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10 



HYDROPATHY ; 

OR, 

THE COLD WATER CURE, 



AS PRACTISED BY 



VINCENT PEIESSNITZ, 



GRAEFENBERG, SILESIA, AUSTRIA. 




E, T. CLARIDGE, ESQ. 

Author of the " Guide along the Danube to Turkey and Greece, and overland to India;" 
Member of the Arcadian Academy, Rome. 



" In proportion as any branch of study leads to important and useful results, — in 
proportion as it gains ground in public estimation, — in proportion as it tends to over- 
throw prevailing errors,— in the same degree it may be expected to call forth angry 
declamation from those -who are trying to despise what they will not learn, and wed- 
ded to prejudices which they cannot defend. Galileo probably would have escaped 
persecution, if his discoveries could have been disproved, and his reasonings re- 
futed." — Dr. Wh ate ley. 




FOURTH E DITION. 



LONDON: 
JAMES MADDEN AND CO., 

8, LEADENHALL STREET. 
MDCCCXLII. 



WILLIAM TYLER, 

PRINTER, 

Bolt Court, London. 




bit* 



PREFACE 

TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



The publication of a Third Edition of this work, in the 
short space of three months, would be evidence of its 
having excited considerable attention, if this conclusion 
were not confirmed by the fact of several imperfect ex- 
tracts in the form of Pamphlets, having made their ap- 
pearance, and by the formation of an Hydropathic So- 
ciety, the members of which pledge themselves by their 
prospectus, if the system be found worthy of public no- 
tice, to propagate its adoption as a matter of humanity. 

Numerous public and private successful experiments 
have been made. Many medical men have declared their 
intention of ^introducing the Cold Water system, either 
wholly or in part, into their practice ; and arrangements 
are making for commencing Establishments to afford 
invalids in England, the like advantages that are known 
to result from similar establishments on the Continent. 

With this view, Mr. Weiss, of Freiwaldau, (the town 
of which Graefenberg forms a suburb,) whose habits and 
manners are of the same unpretending character as those 



ii PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 

of Mr. Priessnitz, has consented to come and reside in 
England. This gentleman, who commenced his career 
with Mr. Priessnitz, and who during the last fifteen 
years has conducted an Establishment of his own, has 
written an excellent work on Hydropathy, which will be 
shortly translated and published in English. 

During my stay at Graefenberg I had constant inter- 
course with him, and was witness to many extraordinary 
cures which he effected, as it constantly occurs that he 
takes cases when refused by Mr. Priessnitz ; not that 
the latter thinks them altogether incurable, but that he 
fears, from the multiplicity of his patients, he should not 
be able to give them the unremitting attention they 
require. And I may add, the prevalent opinion amongst 
the visitors there seemed to be that Mr. Weiss under- 
stood and practised the Cold Water Cure with greater 
safety and more undeviating success than any other of its 
professors, with the exception of Mr. Priessnitz himself. 
Dr. Wilson, our countryman, has also returned to his 
native land, and has announced his intention of publish- 
ing his views of the system, and of establishing him- 
self for the purpose of carrying them out ; thus it may 
be inferred that the blessings of Hydropathy will not be 
allowed to remain dormant, or to be neutralized by 
party interests in this country where the economy of 
life is so seldom taught, and so little understood; and 
where disease in one shape or another exists to such a 



PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. iii 

lamentable extent. When I first determined on con- 
stituting myself the medium for the introduction of 
Hydropathy into England, all I had read of the fate of 
others who had the temerity to introduce innovations in 
the healing art, and all I knew by personal experience 
of the great interests which must of necessity be 
affected by them, naturally produced some reluctance in 
my mind ; but it is with much satisfaction I am able to 
state that such fears were unfounded, for the march of 
intellect is such, "in this happy age when the fetters 
of ignorance and superstition are shattered by the hand 
of truth," that nothing really good can possibly be sup- 
pressed. 

The press, with some few exceptions, subjected my 
work to a fair, unprejudiced, though cautious review. 
A large and influential body of men, (whose lives are 
devoted to the philanthropic duty of arresting the pro- 
gress of that intemperance one meets with in no other 
country, and to which may be attributed the moral and 
physical deformities of the age,) have done much in 
giving it circulation; and physicians generally do not 
attempt to deny the value of the system I have con- 
tended for, but refuse to admit that it has any novelty ; 
with this exception, many of those I have spoken with 
on the subject, treated it as became the members of a 
liberal and enlightened profession. 

The truth is, that to those who seem to detract from the 



IV PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 

value of Hydropathy, by proving its want of novelty, and 
by showing it to be founded on well-known and well- 
established principles, admitted, and long acted upon to a 
certain extent, by the Medical Profession, I owe a large 
debt of gratitude ; my object not being to prove that 
it is new, but that it is useful ; while at the same time I 
must, in justice to Mr. Priessnitz, add, that I have never 
yet met with a medical man bold enough to assert 
that the particular modes of applying cold water, as 
adopted at Graefenberg, were not many of them entirely 

original. 

R. T. C. 
May 23rd, 1842. 

N.B. — At the suggestion of many of the friends of 
humanity, who wish to give a greater circulation to the 
principles of Hydropathy, I have acquiesced in the 
publication of an abstract of this work, to be sold at a 
price which will bring it within the reach of all classes. 



PREFACE. 



It is easy to conceive that any thing so novel and so 
extraordinary as Hydropathy, on being first made known 
to the British public, will create no little surprise. But 
how much will this be increased by the knowledge of the 
fact, that at Graefenberg, within two days' journey from 
Dresden, and only eight or ten days' from London, there 
exists one of the greatest benefactors of mankind, one 
of the most astounding geniuses of this or any other age 
— the founder of a system — by which he proves, beyond 
the power of contradiction, that all curable diseases, and 
many declared by the faculty beyond the power of their 
art, are to be cured by the sole agency of cold spring 
water, air, and exercise (the first applied in manifold 
ways) ; that the aid of this second Hippocrates has been 
sought from 1829 to the present time, by upwards of 
7000 invalids, the greater part of whom were of the 
better orders of society ; that between forty and fifty 
Hydropathic establishments have sprung up in different 
parts of Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Russia, chiefly 
presided over by medical men, and that books have been 



PREFACE. 



published on the subject in almost every continental 
language, and comments made in the greater part of the 
German papers : yet this most interesting and highly 
valuable discovery, one calculated to ameliorate, both 
physically and morally, the condition of mankind, more, 
perhaps, than any other made since the dawn of Chris- 
tianity, is altogether unknown in England. This leads 
us to inquire into the causes of this very singular fact. 
Graefenberg is in an isolated position, out of the regular 
tract of English migrations, leading to no place of con- 
sequence. To go thither, the English must diverge 
from all the leading routes. This may be the reason 
why so few of our countrymen find their way to Grae- 
fenberg ; but 1 confess I am utterly at a loss to account 
for the silence which prevails in the literary and medical 
world on this highly important subject. 

In our little coterie at Graefenberg, consisting of 
three other Englishmen, besides myself and family, the 
absence of our sick friends was ever matter for regret, 
and we constantly wished that certain noble characters 
in our own country, whom we knew to be suffering 
from chronic complaints, were acquainted with this 
mode of treatment, being fully persuaded that they 
would be radically cured if they adopted it ; nor could 
we, when referring to the past, but lament the recent 
loss of many distinguished individuals that are now 
slumbering in their tombs, but who, if it had been known 
to them that such a man as Priessnitz existed, might, 
at that moment, have been living ornaments of their 
country. 

To such men as Oertel, Brand, Kroeber, Kurtz, 
Ruppricht, Doering, Harnish, Munde, Rausse, Raven, 
Gross, Schnizlein, and others, the world is indebted for 



PREFACE. 5 

having by their works, made known the marvellous 
cures effected by that retiring, that most unpretending 
man, Vincent Priessnitz ; who never caused a line to be 
written, and whose only mode of giving publicity has 
been an arduous discharge of the responsible duty he 
had undertaken. 

After examining into the merits of these works, and 
finding that they were the productions of non-medical 
as well as medical men — a circumstance the less sur- 
prising as they only treated of water — I felt, that I 
should be guilty of a dereliction of my duty to my 
country, if I did not exert my humble efforts to pro- 
mulgate the benefits of the system, which they so 
warmly advocated. The task of showing how people 
might extend the term of their existence, eschew poi- 
sonous drugs, be relieved from disease, and live and 
die without pain, promised to afford me a pleasure 
which, although unacquainted with the abstruse terms 
used in medicine, I confess I could not resist. At 
first, I intended translating one of those works into our 
language, and selected Munde accordingly ; but on re- 
flection, I thought it better to make a compilation from 
them all, conceiving that the public would be better 
inclined to give credence to the opinions of such high 
and multiplied authorities, than to the assertions, how- 
ever reasonable, of one individual. 

I doubted at first the prudence of giving the manner 
in which complaints are treated as Munde has done, 
except in minor cases, it being admitted by every one, 
acquainted with Hydropathy, that there can be no un- 
deviating rule on the subject. 

But, as it was natural to expect, that many would 
doubt the efficacy of water in some, although they 



PREFACE. 



might admit it in other complaints, whilst practitioners 
might desire information on so important a subject. 

I at length determined to adopt Mr. Munde's plan, 
and in order not to incur any responsibility, I have 
translated that part of his work, which comprises the 
treatment of cases, as far at least as I found that they 
agreed with Mr. Priessnitz's present practice, or were 
confirmed by the inquiries I made relative to them. 

It must at the same time be observed, that I do 
not see how individuals, who are in no other way ac- 
quainted with the treatment than what they may learn 
from the perusal of books, are to carry it into execu- 
tion, particularly in, or what would appear, dangerous 
complaints, without the assistance of some one who un- 
derstands Mr. Priessnitz's mode of treatment. For that 
which constitutes the singularity of his system is, that 
although cold water is the chief element used, no two 
persons, as far as I could discover, were treated exactly 
alike ; the different applications being moderated or 
increased according to the age, sex, and strength of 
the invalid. Indeed, much judgment seemed to be 
required in adapting the treatment, to the obstinacy 
or pliancy of the complaint, and this more especially 
at the period of a crisis. 

The most unbounded respect is paid to Mr. Priess- 
nitz's genius, nor are his patients ever wanting in con- 
fidence. At Graefenberg, no one seems to think that 
Hydropathy can be properly administered at any of the 
other establishments in Germany or elsewhere ; for 
although the application of cold water appears a know- 
ledge so easy of acquirement, it is a prevailing and con- 
stant fear, that should Providence be pleased to remove 
this extraordinary man, Hydropathy will again fall 



PREFACE. 



into a dormant state, if not into total disuse : not that 
he will want imitators, but, because it is doubtful if the 
present or any future generation will ever look upon his 
like again. 

However, these fears appear to me to be unfounded, 
because, although other practitioners in the science may 
not succeed as invariably as Mr, Priessnitz has done* 
they will still be more successful than all other medical 
men, whether their treatment be homoeopathic or allo- 
pathic. 

In a preface, the author is excused saying some- 
thing of himself, a subject that generally proves ennuy- 
ing, and which will, no doubt, be so in the present 
instance ; I therefore advise the general reader to pro- 
ceed to the subsequent pages of the work, but still beg 
to claim my privilege ; and more especially address my- 
self to invalids, with a view of removing difficulties, by 
showing them the difficulty I myself found in making 
up my mind to proceed to Graefenberg, the obstacles I 
met with, the mode of treatment I there experienced, 
and its results. The invalid having read the powerful 
reasonings of the different authors quoted in the 
following pages, most of whom had ample opportu- 
nities of witnessing the wonderful effects of water, 
which they treat of, during the time they were under- 
going a cure themselves, will naturally ask his medical 
adviser if he know anything of Graefenberg or Hydro- 
pathy ; the latter will of course answer in the negative. 
Consequently, if he puts another question as to the pro- 
priety of going there, we may easily anticipate the an- 
swer; this, in many cases, will decide the patient on 
bearing his sufferings as well as he can, continuing dele- 
terious drugs, &c: but the invalid who prefers becoming 



g PREFACE. 

a pilgrim to the temple of Hygeia, must summon up his 
courage, and be determined not to listen to any argu- 
ments opposed to his going, for I believe I never named 
my intention of proceeding to Graefenberg in any soci- 
ety where the Water Cure was totally unknown, but 
every effort was used, by arguing with me, by intriguing 
with my family, and by summoning up a whole host 
of imaginary horrors, to deter me from so doing. But, 
on the other hand, I never made known my destina- 
tion to any persons who had been at Graefenberg them- 
selves, or who knew any one who had been there, that 
did not strongly approve of my plan, and who did not 
speak of the astounding success of Priessnitz -in his 
treatment of disease, in the strongest terms that lan- 
guage could express. 

Some years ago, a friend of mine at Gratz in Styria, 
who had received in his own person a most miraculous 
proof of the efficacy of the treatment at Graefenberg, 
strenuously recommended me to go there ; but as almost 
every one is prodigal of advice, and as one every day 
hears of some vaunted panacea, it made no more 
than a momentary impression upon me, and was, 
therefore disregarded. My attention was first seriously 
drawn to the subject, by a distinguished officer of 
marines at Venice, who was some years ago so reduced 
by fever in the East, as to be unable to continue the 
service in which he was then engaged. Mr. Priessnitz, 
whom he met at Vienna, advised him to drink bounti- 
fully of cold spring water, and to use it constantly in 
external ablutions. From that time to the present he 
has seldom failed in drinking from ten to fourteen glasses 
of water a day, and bathing in the Adriatic winter and 
summer ; during which period, he was unconscious of 



PREFACE. 9 

pain, and became strong and robust. Seeing me attacked 
by rheumatism and head-ache, to both of which com- 
plaints I have been subject for the greater part of my 
life, my friend strongly advised me, in the winter of 
1840, to follow his example. 

At an evening party at Venice, I was introduced to 
one of the leading medical men who attended the Im- 
perial Court at Vienna, and the British Embassy in that 
city; on my inquiring of him if he knew any thing of 
Graefenberg, he told me that as empirics are not 
permitted to practise in Austria, some years ago, on a 
complaint being addressed to the government of Vien- 
na, against Mr. Priessnitz, the Aulic Council ap- 
pointed him and two others to proceed to Grae- 
fenberg, to inquire into and report upon the truth of 
the allegations, the danger or utility of the system, etc., 
that he proceeded there, as directed, and without enter- 
ing into details, he would leave me to judge of what he 
thought of it, by the fact, that Mr. Priessnitz was not 
only allowed to practise, but was honoured by the 
friendship of some of the members of the Imperial 
family. 

On asking him if he thought the treatment would be 
advantageous to me, he replied in the affirmative, and 
said that he frequently sent his own patients to Grae- 
fenberg. 

On arriving at Rome, after being confined to my bed 
and room at Florence for nearly two months, I endea- 
voured to induce a friend, who was extremely ill, to 
accompany me to Graefenberg ; this he would not 
consent to, without first speaking to his medical adviser, 
who was a German. Much to the credit of this liberal 
man, he answered my friend's inquiry by saying, " You 
are too much reduced for so long a journey at present ; 



IQ PREFACE. 

or I should advise you to undertake it ; for I have been 
myself at Graefenberg, and have seen Priessnitz under- 
take cures, from which any medical man would have 
shrunk. I fancy he is so completely ignorant of human 
anatomy, that if asked where the liver was situated, he 
would be at a loss to say ; but that he can cure the liver 
complaint, there is not the slightest doubt. Whilst 
there," he went on to say, " I witnessed cures of such 
an extraordinary nature, as to lead me to believe that 
Priessnitz must be acting under divine inspiration." 
Failing to persuade my friend to go, T nevertheless pre- 
vailed upon two of my countrymen to precede me to 
Graefenberg. Now although my mind was fully made 
up to go there, I confess that my confidence was often 
shaken by "the fears sometimes very forcibly expressed 
by persons I fell in with by the way ; but I always de- 
termined on going and judging for myself. 

On arriving at the establishment at Graefenberg, and 
finding all the rooms engaged, I was compelled to 
descend to the town of Freiwaldau, at the bottom of 
the mountain, where strangers are sure of finding ac- 
commodation. The arrival of an English carriage and 
family, probably for the first time, was too important 
an event not to be immediately known to everybody. 
Consequently, early the following morning, our country- 
men, whom I had persuaded to go ; one, a medical man, 
who had been there two months, the other one month, 
called upon me to invite my family up to the estab- 
lishment that day to dinner. These gentlemen, on our 
meeting, declared that they owed me an eternal debt of 
gratitude, for having directed their attention to Grae- 
fenberg, adding, " when we came here w 7 e were encased 
in flannel, to which we have said adieu for ever : our 
appetites are excellent ; and above all, we sleep well, and 



PREFACE. \ 1 

exercise never tires us. We have now acquired a 
buoyancy of spirits quite incredible: had any one told 
us three months ago it was possible to attain it, we 
should have treated the idea as chimerical." They then 
expressed an opinion that it was flannel, abstaining from 
drinking water, and ignorance of its value in ablutions, 
and not the damps of England, that caused so many to 
seek health in other climes, to the evident disadvantage 
of our own country. 

At dinner there were between 200 and 300 persons, 
of all ages and all ranks in society, who, with perhaps 
half a dozen exceptions, were invalids, a circumstance 
which no one unacquainted with the fact would have 
suspected ; for I could not help remarking the happy, 
healthy looking countenances of all around, and the 
merry laugh and mirth which burst from every part of 
the large saloon. On expressing my surprise to the 
English doctor, he said, "You will find difficulty, no 
doubt, in believing that there are, to my knowledge, 
forty or fifty persons here, who, but for Priessnitz, 
would have been consigned to their tombs, and not have 
been living here to-day to tell their tales ; and that 
there are, perhaps, twice as many more who, under any 
other treatment, would have been confined to their 
beds. On looking at these people you must bear 
in mind that they are not on a par with the casual 
occupants of an hospital ; for the majority of them 
have come here after having consulted all the cele- 
brated doctors within their reach, and tried the mineral 
waters in Germany in vain : that they are people who 
only abandoned their medical advisers when it became 
too apparent, that they could receive no assistance from 
them, or when they could no longer be induced to follow 
their prescriptions ; therefore, the majority of these 



\2 PREFACE. 

cases may be considered more advanced and confirmed 
than the common run of an hospital ; that disease is too 
firmly rooted in their systems to be relieved by the 
ordinary practice of the faculty, mosi of them being 
considered incurable." The doctor added, " If any 
thing could be adduced to show that invalids can live, 
digest, and become strong without the aid of drugs, 
it would be the fact, that amongst the large number 
of people, both here and at Freiwaldau, some of whom 
have been many months under the treatment, not a 
grain of medicine has been taken by any one of them 
since their arrival. Notwithstanding they eat with 
appetites that, but for the dissolving power of water, 
would cause them to die of indigestion. As there is no 
wine, mustard, or pepper on the table, people think 
no more of such things than if they were not." 

One can easily imagine much gaiety and cheerfulness 
to exist at the public tables of the different Spas, or at 
other watering places, as they are devoted to recreation 
and amusement ; but in an hospital, where almost every 
disease known in Europe is to be found, the existence 
of such gaiety appears incomprehensible except to those 
who have been some time at Graefenberg, and have 
witnessed the soothing power of water in the alleviation 
of pain, and the buoyancy of spirits which it promotes, 
by regulating the digestive powers. 

" Look at your neighbour to the right," said the 
doctor ; " he came here twelve months ago on crutches, 
having previously been a year in bed. His disease, 
the gout, being an old hereditary complaint, he is 
not yet cured ; but one thing he will tell you, that 
though in pain when he first came, it soon ceased, 
and he has never been confined to his room an hour 



PREFACE, J 3 

since, nor did he ever enjoy finer health. Then look 
at that young lady opposite. From childhood, she 
had scrofula in her face and neck to such an extent, 
that she was an object of pity to all who saw her; she 
has been here nine months, and is now so completely 
recovered, that she is considered the beauty of the room. 
That officer near her is suffering from a wound in his 
leg. At first it withered away until it became no larger 
than a man's wrist ; the surgeons said, nothing but 
amputation remained. Upon which he came here, and 
now his limb has resumed its flesh and will shortly be 
perfectly restored. Yonder female walking with a 
stick, was brought here six weeks ago in wet sheets. 
She had been confined to her bed and room, until she 
lost the use of her limbs, and so became a perfect 
skeleton ; she now walks tolerably well with a stick, 
and in a fortnight, it is expected, she will do without it." 
He then pointed out a child, who had lost the use of 
his legs from scrofula, but now perfectly recovered. 
Another person was tormented for years with tic doulou- 
reux, who, after remaining here a few months, became 
perfectly cured. There is an officer now recovered from 
hernia, and there several others from rheumatism. 
" That gentleman," said he, " is a field-marshal in the 
Prussian service ; eighty-seven years old : he came here 
on crutches, with the gout, two months ago. He is 
delighted with the treatment, and now walks about these 
mountains, with the use only of a stick. He intends 
staying here through the winter. That lady from 
Moscow has a child only three years old, distorted by 
a spinal complaint ; four months ago, the poor infant 
could not stand erect, now it plays about, and is as 
happy as the other children : in six months' time, it 



14 PREFACE. 

will be perfectly cured." In fact, such a number of 
singular and extraordinary cases were pointed out to 
me by my friend, whose knowledge of the facts and 
veracity could be depended upon, that I no longer 
doubted the astounding accounts I had so frequently 
heard of the cures effected at Graefenberg. The saloon 
w T as noble and spacious ; but as to the dinner and at- 
tendance, I thought nothing could be worse; and no 
barrack in England could be more divested of what is 
understood by the term comfort (a word not yet in- 
troduced into the German language) as regarded the 
sleeping apartments. I now debated with myself the 
possibility of all these people being fanatics — fanatics they 
certainly were in one sense of the word ; but were they 
deceived? No, no, — this could not be; because here 
were men of all nations, creeds, and professions, of 
variously constructed minds, and amongst them, several 
of the medical profession, who had come here to be 
cured themselves, and to learn the mode of cure. No- 
thing but the real merit of the svstem could induce 
people to suffer the privations to which they were here 
subjected ; and the certainty of their disease being cured, 
and their constitutions radically restored; this alone 
induced them to submit to such privations. Having at 
last made up my mind to become one of Priessnitz's 
patients, I was prepared for his coming in the morning. 

The first thing he did was to request me to strip and 
go into the large cold-bath, where I remained two or 
three minutes. On coming out, he gave me instructions, 
which I pursued as follows: — 

At four o'clock in the morning, my servant folded 
me in a large blanket, over which he placed as many 
things as I could conveniently bear: so that no external 



PREFACE. 15 

air could penetrate. After perspiration commenced, it 
was allowed to continue for an hour ; he then brought 
a pair of straw shoes, wound the blanket close about 
my body, and in this state of perspiration I descended 
to a large cold-bath in which I remained three minutes ; 
then dressed and walked until breakfast, which was 
composed of milk, bread, butter, and strawberries, (the 
wild strawberry in this country grows in abundance, 
from the latter end of May until late in October ;) at 
ten o'clock I proceeded to the douche, under which T 
remained four minutes, returned home, and took a sitz 
and foot-bath, each for fifteen minutes ; dined at one 
o'clock ; at four proceeded again to the douche ; at 
seven repeated the sitz and foot-baths ; retired to bed 
at half-past nine, previously having my feet and legs 
bound up in cold wet bandages. I continued this treat- 
ment for three months, and, during that time, walked 
about 1000 miles. Whilst thus subjected to the treat- 
ment, I enjoyed more robust health than I had ever 
done before ; the only visible effect that I experienced, 
was an eruption on both my legs, but which, on account 
of the bandages, produced no pain. It is to these 
bandages, the perspirations, and the baths, that I am 
indebted for the total departure of my rheumatism. 

Whilst thus near Priessnitz, and when consequently T 
had no fear of the result, by way of experiment, I deter- 
mined, one thorough wet day, not to change my clothes, 
which were completely saturated, and in this state I sat 
until they were completely dry : the consequence was, 
that in the night I awoke with a distracting head-ache, 
parched tongue, a slight sore throat, and the next morning 
felt no appetite, but a general languor of body. By the 
following detail of this case, the reader will judge how 



IQ PREFACE. 

easily a cold of tliis nature is generally cured by Hydro- 
pathy. I laid in the kotz, or blanket, went into the 
cold-bath as usual, and in the afternoon was enveloped in 
a wet sheet for an hour, until perspiration commenced, 
then sat in the half-bath (not quite cold), and was 
rubbed all over by two men for twenty minutes ; walked 
out as usual ; at night, on going to bed, wore the band- 
ages, or umschlags, on my breast and back of the neck ; 
next day repeated the same, and the third day was per- 
fectly recovered. 

My family have all proved the beneficial effects of 
Mr. Priessnitz's treatment. The night before our de- 
parture, the patients gave their annual ball, in the great 
room of the establishment, in commemoration of Mr. 
Priessnitz's birthday. The whole of the buildings be- 
longing to him were illuminated, both inside and out, at 
their expense. In this assembly, consisting of about 
500 persons, no stranger would have believed, had he 
been unacquainted with the fact, that its members were 
chiefly composed of invalids. Tears were frequently 
observed to steal from the eyes of many who blessed 
the great man for their restoration to health ; and I do 
not know a more touching scene than seeing invalids, 
who, by his means, had regained the use of their limbs, 
approach him, throw their crutches at his feet, and join 
in the maze of the waltz. Monarchs might have envied 
him his feelings on such occasions. 

On the day of our departure we had been at Grae- 
fenberg three months, during which time our health was 
perfectly established ; we acquired the habit of living 
more moderately, of taking more exercise, of drinking 
more water, and of using it more freely in external ab- 
lutions than we were accustomed to, and, I may add, 



PREFACE. 17 

that we have learned how to allay pain, how to ward 
off disease, and, I hope, how to preserve health. My 
sojourn at Graefenberg will ever be a matter of self- 
congratulation to me, and will be amongst my hap- 
piest recollections. If I am instrumental in reliev- 
ing the sufferings of my countrymen, — if I succeed in 
bringing to their notice a system calculated to be of 
such essential benefit to them, — if I can prevail upon 
them to participate in the happy effects of the treat- 
ment which I have myself experienced, my feelings of 
satisfaction, arising from my residence at Graefenberg, 
will be heightened in no ordinary degree. 

R. T. C. 

131, Piccadilly, Jan. 21s/, 1842. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Longevity, Water, &c. . 25 

Water 36 

The Turks . .39 



CHAPTER II. 

Graefenberg 49 

CHAPTER III. 

Vincent Priessnitz . ■ . .57 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Hydropathic Treatment 73 

CHAPTER V. 
Dr "g s • • . . 85 



20 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

PAGE 

The Crisis 92 

CHAPTER VII. 

Hydrosudotherapia, or Sweating, and the Bath ... 96 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Ablutions, Cold Wet Bandages 102 

Applications of Cold Wet Sheets and Bandages . . .103 

CHAPTER IX. 
Dropsy . . 113 

CHAPTER X. 

Baths . •". . - 115 

The Half-bath . . . «. . . 117 

Foot-bath .. . . . .119 

Head-bath 121 

Finger-bath , .122 

Eye-bath ib. 

Leg-bath 123 

The Douche-bath - , . ib. 

The Sitz-bath . 125 

CHAPTER XL 

Assimilation . . . . . , . . ]27 



CONTENTS. 21 

; CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Clothing, Mineral Waters, &c 130 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Diet, as set forth hy Munde 135 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Observations . .138 

Observations by Dr. Bigel 144 

Letter of Dr. Engel, Vienna 161 

Letter of Dr. Behrend, Berlin 168 

Address of Dr. Sauvan, Warsaw 171 

CHAPTER XV. 

Priessnitz's Genius in detecting Disease — Cases of Cure, &c. 181 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Hydropathic Method of Curing Diseases . . . .193 

Gout and Rheumatism ...... ib. 

Inflammatory Fever, Nervous Fever, &c. . . . . 203 

Intermitting Fever 206 

Dropsy ib* 

Cancer ib. 

Cholera .......... 208 

Dysentery 212 

Obstruction of Articulations . . . . . .213 

Chilblains ib. 

Habitual Coldness of the Feet 214 

Foetid Perspiration of the Feet ib. 

Inflammation of the Chesf . . . . , ib. 



22 CONTENTS. 






PAGE 


Scrofula, Rickets 


216 


Scarlatina, Measles, Small-pox 


ib. 


Erysipelas 


219 


Hooping Cough, and other Diseases in Infancy and Childhood 


220 


Inflammation of the Brain ....... 


ib. 


Ophthalmia, or Inflammation of the Eyes . ... 


221 


Pain in the Eyes, and Weakness of these Organs 


222 


Itch, and Ringworm .... ... 


ib. 


Mercurial Diseases . 


223 


Ulcers 


224 


Syphilis 


ib. 


The Gripes, Catarrh, and Cold in the Head 


226 




ib. 


Quinzy and Inflammation of the Throat 


227 


Pain at the Chest 


ib. 


Sore Eyes 


ib. 


Wounds 


ib. 


Nose Cold 


228 


Burns . . 


ib. 


Deafness 


ib. 


Ear-ache 


ib. 


Tooth-ache 


229 


Sprains or Stiffness of the Joints 


ib. 


Fractures 


ib. 


Piles 


230 


Stitches in the Side . 


231 




ib. 


Inflammation of the Abdomen ..... 


232 


Weakness of the Nerves ....... 


ib. 


Hypochondria and Hysterics 


233 


Head-ache 


ib. 


Tic Douloureux 


234 


Bleeding at the Nose 


ib. 


Weakness of the Digestion, and Debility of the Stomach . 


235 


Heartburn 


236 


Loss of Sleep . . . . . , . 


237 


Epilepsy ......... 


ib. 


Diseases of the Abdomen ...... 


ib. 



CONTENTS. 



23 



Diarrhoea ..." 

Nausea and Sickness 

Colics .... 

Congestions of Blood 

Drowsiness 

Sickness and Spitting of Blood 

Hemorrhage, Uterine 

Irregular Menstruation 

Accouchement 

Les Fleurs Blanches 

Cramps of the Stomach 



PAGE 

238 

239 

ib. 



ib. 
240 

ib. 
241 

ib. 

ib. 



ib. 
242 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Animal Treatment 243 

On the external Use of Cold Water 244 

Internal use of Cold Water ib. 

Sudorific Process ib. 

Paralytic Weakness of the Limbs, and Sprains . . . 245 

External Inflammations and Wounds 246 

The Staggers 247 

Want of Appetite 248 

Foundering of Horses ....... ib. 

The Strangles ib. 

Fever .......... ib. 

Lock-jaw .......... 249 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Gross's Journey to Graefenberg 



250 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Water 

Effects of Cold Water Drinking 

Effects of Cold Water used in Ablutions, Baths, &c. 



27G 
280 
285 



24 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Wine, Spirituous Liquors, &c. 289 

Obstacles, &c 299 

Advantages of Water in the Cure of Disease . . . 307 

CHAPTER XX. 

List of Hydropathic Establishments 31.3 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Routes to Graefenberg . . . . . . . 317 



HYDROPATHY. 



CHAPTER I, 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 



It is an admitted fact that disease has increased, and 
the duration of human life decreased, from the time of 
the patriarchs up to our own days, and this more espe- 
cially in civilized countries ; but the cause of this fact, 
which does not appear to lie very deep, we interest our- 
selves very little about. We have instances of persons 
living to very advanced ages in all times ; and are, there- 
fore led to conclude that, as nature's laws are immuta- 
ble and unchangeable, there is no reason for supposing 
that if those laws were complied with, there would be 
any exception to the attainment of longevity. Of all 
organic beings or things, man is most subject to prema- 
ture decay. Combe, in his highly talented work, " The 
Constitution of Man considered in relation to External 
Objects," says, " I hope I do not err in stating, that nei- 
ther disease nor death, in early and middle life, can take 
place under the ordinary administration of Providence, 
except when the organic laws have been infringed ; the 
pains of premature death, then, are the punishments of 
infringement of the organic law : and the object of that 



26 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

chastisement probably is, to impress upon us the neces- 
sity of obeying them, that we may live, and to prevent 
our abusing the remedial process, inherent, to a great 
extent, in our constitution." That death in old age is 
the natural institution of the Creator, is made evident 
from all the philosophic reasoning which we bring to 
bear upon the subject. 

Man is an organized being, and subject to the organic 
laws. An organized being is one which derives its 
existence from a previously existing organized being, 
which subsists on food, which grows, attains a maturity, 
decays, and dies. The first law, then, that must be 
obeyed, to render an organized being perfect in its kind, 
is, that the germ from which it springs shall be complete 
in all its parts, and sound in its whole constitution. If 
we sow an acorn in which some vital part has been de- 
stroyed altogether, the seedling plant, and the full- 
grown oak, if it ever attain to maturity, will be deficient 
in the lineaments which are wanting in the embryo 
root : if we sow an acorn entire in its parts, but only 
half ripened, or damaged in its whole texture by damp 
or other causes, the seedling oak will be feeble, and 
will probably die early. A similar law holds in regard to 
man. A second organic law is, that the organized being, 
the moment it is ushered into life, and so long as it con- 
tinues to live, must be supplied with food, light, air, 
and every other physical element requisite for its sup- 
port, in due quantity, and of the kind best suited to its 
particular constitution. Obedience to this law is re- 
warded with a vigorous and healthy development of its 
powers, and, in animals, with a pleasing consciousness 
of existence, and aptitude for the performance of their 
natural functions ; disobedience is punished with feeble- 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC- <gf 

ness, stunted growth, general imperfections, or early 
death* A single fact will illustrate this observation. 
At the meeting of the British Association, held in Edin- 
burgh in 1834, there was read an abstract, by Dr. Jo- 
seph Clarke, of a Registry kept in the Lying-in-Hos- 
pital of Great Britain Street, Dublin, from the year 
1758 to the end of 1833 ; from which it appeared that, 
in 1781, when the hospital was imperfectly ventilated, 
every sixth child died within nine days after birth, of 
convulsive disease ; and that after means of thorough 
ventilation had been adopted, the mortality of infants, 
within the same time, in five succeeding years, was re- 
duced to nearly one in twenty. A third organic law, 
applicable to man, is that he shall duly exercise his or- 
gans, this condition being an indispensable prerequisite 
of health. The reward of obedience to this law, is en- 
joyment in the very act of exercising the functions, 
pleasing consciousness of existence, and the acquisition 
of numberless gratifications and advantages, of which 
labour, or the exercise of our powers, is the procuring 
means : disobedience is punished with derangement and 
sluggishness of the functions, with general uneasiness 
or positive pain, and with the denial of gratification to 
numerous faculties. It will not be denied that the due 
exercise of the osseous, muscular, and nervous systems, 
under the guidance of intellect and moral sentiment, 
and in accordance with the physical laws, contributes 
to human enjoyment ; and that neglect of this exercise, 
or an abuse of it, by carrying it to excess, or by con- 
ducting it in opposition to the moral, intellectual, or 
physical laws, is punished with pain. 

The external world appears to be wisely and bene- 
volently adapted to the organic system of man ; that is, 

b 2 



2S LONGEVITY, WATEK, ETC. 

to his nutrition, and to the development and exercise 
of his corporeal organs. The natural law appears to be, 
that every one who desires to enjoy the pleasures of 
health, must expend in labour the energy which the 
Creator has infused into his limbs. A wide choice is 
left to man, as to the mode in which he shall exercise 
his nervous and muscular systems : the labourer, for 
example, digs the ground, and the squire engages in the 
chase ; both pursuits exercise the body. The penalty 
for neglecting this law is imperfect digestion and dis- 
turbed sleep, debility, bodily and mental lassitude ; and 
if carried to a certain length, confirmed bad health and 
early death. The penalty for over-exerting these sys- 
tems is exhaustion, mental incapacity, the desire of 
strong artificial stimulants (such as ardent spirits) gene- 
ral insensibility, grossness of feeling and perception, 
with disease and shortened life. 

Society has not recognised this law ; and, in conse- 
quence, the higher orders despise labour, and suffer the 
first penalty ; while the lower orders are oppressed with 
toil, and undergo the second. The penalties serve to 
provide motives for obedience to the law ; and whenever 
it is recognised, and the consequences are discovered to 
be inevitable, men will no longer shun labour as painful 
and ignominious, but resort to it as a source of pleasure 
and advantage. 

Whatever the ultimate object of the Creator in con- 
stituting organized beings may be, it will scarcely be 
denied that part of his design is, that they should enjoy 
their existence here ; and if so, the object of every part 
of their structure ought to be found conducing to this 
end. 

Is there, then, no such phenomenon on earth as a 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. gO, 

human being existing in full possession of organic 
vigour, from birth till advanced age, when the organ- 
ized system is fairly worn out ? Numberless examples 
of this kind have occurred, and they show to demon- 
stration, that the corporeal frame of man is so consti- 
tuted as to admit the possibility of his enjoying health 
and vigour during the whole period of a long life. It is 
mentioned in the life of Captain Cook, that " one cir- 
cumstance peculiarly worthy of notice is the perfect 
and uninterrupted health of the inhabitants of New 
Zealand. In all the visits made to their towns, where 
old and young, men and women, crowded about our 
voyagers, they never observed a single person who ap- 
peared to have any bodily complaint ; nor among the 
numbers that were seen naked, was once perceived the 
slightest eruption upon the skin, or the least mark 
which indicated that such an eruption had formerly ex- 
isted. Another proof of the health of these people, is 
the facility with which the wounds they at any time 
receive are healed, In the man who had been shot 
with the musket ball through the fleshy part of his arm, 
the wound seemed to be so well digested, and in so fair 
a way of being perfectly healed, that if Mr. Cook had 
not known that no application had been made to it, he 
declared that he should certainly have inquired, with a 
very interested curiosity, after the vulnerary herbs and 
surgical art of the country. An additional evidence of 
human nature being untainted with disease in New 
Zealand is, the great number of old men with whom it 
abounds. Many of them by the loss of their hair and 
teeth, appeared to be very ancient, and yet none of 
them were decrepit. Although they were not equal to 
the young in muscular strength, they did not come in 



30 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

the least behind them with regard to cheerfulness and 
vivacity. Water, as far as our navigators could disco- 
ver, is the universal and only liquor of the New Zea- 
landers. It is greatly to be wished that their happi- 
ness, in this respect, may never be destroyed by such a 
connexion with the European nations as shall introduce 
that fondness for spirituous liquors which hath been so 
fatal to the Indians of North America." — Kippiss Life 
of Captain Cook. Dublin, 1788, p. 100. 

In almost every country, individuals are to be found, 
who have escaped from sickness during the whole course 
of a protracted life. 

Dr. Hufeland, in his Macrobiotic, a work translated 
into all European languages, after citing numerous 
cases of extreme old age, says, " We ought to have 
some fixed ideas as to what ought to be the true term 
of life, but we can hardly imagine to what an extent 
doctors differ on this point; some assign to man extreme 
longevity, whilst others cut life very short. We might 
be tempted to believe that death occasioned by old age 
was the true term of man's life ; but a calculation, 
established upon such a basis, would lead to great errors 
in an artificial state like ours." 

The classic Lichtenberg declared that the secret had 
been discovered of inoculating people with old age before 
their time ; and added, " we see, every day, men 30 or 
40 years old, presenting all the appearance of decrepi- 
tude, deformity, wrinkles, grey hairs, and other defects 
which one only expects to find in men of 80 or 90 years 
of age. Two inquiries here present themselves : — 
First, How long, in general, can man live ? Since all 
animals have an absolute term of life, must not man 
be naturally in a similar position ? Secondly, How 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. <§\ 

long, considered individually, can a man live ? With 
respect to the first question, nothing prevents our con- 
sidering the longest term of longevity of which we have 
known examples, as forming the extreme limit of human 
life, or the point of perfection as a model, in fact, of 
what the nature of man, under favourable circumstances, 
is capable of. Experience proves that man, in modern 
times, may live to 150 or 160 years, and even more. 
On opening the body of Thomas Parr, who died at the 
age of 152, all the viscera were found perfectly sound, 
which proved that had he been allowed to pursue his 
own humble course he would not have died when he 
did. We have an account of two negresses who died 
recently in Jamaica, one aged 151, the other 142. 

Henry Jenkins, whose monument is in the church of 
Bolton-upon-Swale, and Demetrius Grabowsky, who 
died lately in Poland, both attained to the age of 169 
years. 

On along freestone slab in Caery church, near Cardiff, 
in the county of Glamorgan, is the following inscription, 
in capitals, round the ledge : — 

" Here lyeth the Bo- 

Dy of William Edwds of the 

Cairey, who departed 

This life the 24 of Feh- 

Ruary Anno Domini 1668, Anno 

Que setatis suae 168." 

In the " County Chronicle" of December 13, 1791, a 
paragraph was inserted, stating that Thomas Cam, ac- 
cording to the parish register of St. Leonard, Shore- 
ditch, died the 28th January ^ 1588, aged 207 years! 
The correspondent of that paper adds, " This is an in- 
stance of longevity, so far exceeding any other on record, 



32 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

that one is disposed to suspect some mistake, either in 
the register or in the extract." Our correspondent, 
having lately met with this paragraph in his common- 
place book, determined, he says, to apply to the parish- 
clerk of St. Leonard's, from whom he, at length, obtained 
an extract from the register of burials, a literal copy of 
which is subjoined: — 



1588 BURIALLES Fol: 35 



Thomas Cam was buriel y 22 inst of 
Januarye Aged 207 years. 
Holywell Street 

Geo. G arrow 
Copy Aug st 25, 1832 Parish Clerk 



" It thus appears," adds our correspondent, " that 
Cam was born in the year 1381, in the fourth of Richard 
II., living through the reign of that monarch ; and 
through those of the whole of the following sovereigns, 
viz. Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV., 
Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., 
Edward VI., Mary, and to the thirtieth of Elizabeth." 

There is, then, nothing unreasonable in supposing 
it possible, with respect to organization and the vital 
" force" of man, that one may endure and the other act 
during two centuries. That a power exists in human 
beings of living for a long space of time, may be con- 
sidered as an established fact ; and that which gives 
weight to this theory is, the connexion which exists 
between the period required for arriving at maturity and 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. gg 

the duration of life. This deduction is based upon the 
principle that animals, in general, live eight times as 
long as they were growing. Thus man, in an ordinary 
state, that is to say, when nature is not forced on by 
art, requires 25 years to attain to physical perfection, 
this would assign to man a life of 200 years. A certain 
degree of civilization would seem necessary to man to 
attain to the longest period of longevity. Still, there 
are travellers who assure us that amongst the Arabs, 
this age is not unfrequently attained, and that men are 
often married at 100 years of age. 

Haller, who collected most of the cases of longevity 
known in Europe, gave examples of more than 1000 
persons who attained to 100 and 110 years; 60 from 
110 to 120 ; 29 from 120 to 130 ; 15 from 130 to 140 ; 
6 from 140 to 150 ; and 1 to 169 years. 

Wild animals do not live a life of misery, or of pain, 
nor, except by accident, do they die young, or before 
they have run their fair natural course. And why 
should man ? unless by artificial means and a departure 
from nature's laws, he destroys himself; for, of all ani- 
mals, man is not only the handsomest, but the strongest 
according to his weight ; no animal, not even the lion, 
has such firmly-knitted joints, such strong muscles, or 
such a well-formed frame as man. No animal has calves 
to its legs, and if the joints of the whole body are taken 
into consideration, those of man will be found far su- 
perior to those of animals, and thus beauty and strength 
are combined in the human frame. 

Few animals can equal man in supporting long trials 
of strength, and enduring fatigue. The strongest horse 
or dog cannot bear the fatigue of walking so long as 



34 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

man. "We have examples of savages passing three days 
and nights without repose or nourishment, at the same 
time marching quickly through their native wilds, pur- 
suing or pursued, when even their horses and dogs were 
wearied and left behind. Thus, we see, notwithstanding 
our frequent abuse of nature, how much it does for man- 
kind. No animal can support changes of climate as 
man can do ; witness the Norwegian wending his way 
through the Arabian deserts, where the traces of none, 
save the tiger's foot, are seen. "We have numerous ex- 
amples, too, of men subduing wild animals by the main 
strength of their muscles and joints. But, to return to 
the more immediate subject of our present inquiries : — 
If it be objected, that such extreme old age as we have 
alluded to, is an exception, and that a shorter life is 
more in conformity with nature, we still cannot doubt 
that any death occurring before the age of 100 years, 
is almost always artificial ; that is to say, it is the result 
of disease or fortuitous circumstances. It is certain 
that the greater part of men do not die natural deaths, 
so that hardly one in ten thousand attains to 100 years. 
From the Bills of Mortality, of 100 individuals there 

die — 

50 before 10 years of age. 

10 between 10 and 20 years. 



8 


a 


20 „ 30 


9 


a 


30 „ 40 


8 


J> 


40 „ 50 


7 


ii 


50 „ 60 



So that it will be seen that out of 100, only eight or ten 
exceeded the age of sixty years. Then, we would ask, 
if even those few years were passed in perfect health, 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 35 

could they be said to constitute a life deserving the 
name of life ? Did they not rather form an existence 
of sickness and suffering ? 

Persons who do not look into the subject, will hardly 
imagine to what a dire extent disease and pain exist in 
civilized countries ; but when they do inquire, they will 
become acquainted with the fact, that a person in sound 
health is an exception : whereas, it may be fairly as- 
sumed, that when the philosophy of man shall be better 
understood, the reverse will be the case ; for we hold 
it to be beyond the power of contradiction, that inas- 
much as a natural law never admits of an exception, 
neither extreme longevity nor excellent health could 
occur in any individual, unless those qualities were 
fairly within the capabilities of the race. 

Since the peace of Europe has been established, errors 
and prej udices have been in the constant progress of cor- 
rection, and men's minds directed to the better cultiva- 
tion of the sciences ; reform and improvement in politi- 
cal economy, in jurisprudence, in theology, in chemistry, 
in mathematics, and in husbandry, have already taken 
place, and now form the occupation of mankind. It is 
only in medicine that no one will venture to propose a 
change, and this science is consequently left, as though 
it were too sacred to be meddled with. The result of 
this state of things is, that the Faculty adhere to their 
errors and prejudices. People in general think that 
whatever is is right ; and the poor take with blind con- 
fidence whatever the doctor prescribes, as though his 
orders (however incompetent their dispenser may be) 
constituted a law from which it would be sacrilege to 
depart. The poor invalid thus balances between restor- 
ation and death, for daily experience proves that what is 



gg LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

termed a cure, under the allopathic or present system, is 
very often as fatal in its consequence in after-life, as the 
disease itself. From the remotest antiquity the value of 
water has been known, and from the age of Hippocrates 
to our own, many voices have been raised in favour of 
cold water as a substitute for the dangerous science of 
medicine, in the cure of all curable diseases ; but this 
mode of treatment was too simple to meet with any 
support from the medical profession, and consequently 
for a time the use of water was altogether abandoned. 
It is only within a very short time that a man has risen 
from obscurity by making use of this medicinally aban- 
doned element ; and has attained sufficient consideration 
to convince even those learned persons, who at first de- 
spised his pretensions, that they had been perpetuating 
a system of fallacies. In a retired part of the Austrian 
dominions, Vincent Priessnitz, (a name which already 
belongs to history,) by his extraordinary genius, gives 
daily evidences of the fact, that the most obstinate and 
dangerous cases of acute or chronic disease, are to be 
cured by the sole agency of pure air, exercise, and 
spring water. To show that the use of the latter, in a 
medicinal point of view, has, like many other useful and 
valuable discoveries, been long partially known, but suf- 
fered to lie dormant, owing to the prejudice and neglect 
of those who should have brought it forward, I shall 
now proceed to cite the following facts. 

WATER. 

Facts intended to show the value that all nations, in all 
times, have set upon the use of cold water. 

The Spartans bathed their children as soon as born, in 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 37 

cold water ; and the men of Sparta, both old and young, 
bathed at all seasons of the year in the Eurotas, to 
harden their flesh and strengthen their bodies. 

Pindar, in one of his Olympic Odes, says, " the best 
thing is water, and the next gold." 

There was a Greek proverb to the eifect that the 
water of the sea cured all ills. 

Pythagoras recommended the use of cold baths 
strongly to his disciples, to fortify both the body and 
the mind. 

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who added rub- 
bing to cold bathing, was accustomed to use cold water 
in his treatment of the most serious illnesses. It was 
Hippocrates who first observed that the employment of 
warm water chilled, whilst that of cold water warmed. 

The Macedonians considered warm water to be ener- 
vating — their women, after accouchement, were washed 
with cold water. 

Virgil called the ancient inhabitants of Italy, a race 
of men hard and austere, who immerse their newly-born 
children in the rivers, and accustom them to cold water. 

Pliny, in speaking of A. Musa, who cured Horace by 
means of cold water, said that he had put an end to con- 
fused drugs ; and he also alludes to a certain Charmes, 
who made a sensation at Rome by the cures he effected 
with cold water. 

Celsus, called the Cicero of doctors, employed water 
for complaints of the head and stomach. 

Galen, in the second century, recommended cold 
bathing to those in health, as well as to patients labour- 
ing under the attacks of fever. 

Charlemagne, aware of the salubrity of cold bathing, 



33 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

encouraged its use throughout his empire, and intro- 
duced swimming as an amusement at his court. 

Michael Savonarola, an Italian doctor, in 1462, 
recommended cold water in gout, ophthalmy, and has- 
morrhages. 

Cardanus, of Pavia, 1575, complains that the doctors 
in his time made so little use of cold water in the curing 
of gout. 

Van der Heyden, a doctor at Ghent, states that in 
1624, during an epidemic dysentery, he cured many 
hundreds of persons with cold water. 

Short, an English doctor, 1656, states that he had 
cured with cold water, the dropsy and the bite of mad 
dogs. 

Dr. Floyer published a work, called the " Psychro- 
lusie," (Instructions on the Use of Cold Baths,) in 1702. 
From that period to 1722, it went through six editions 
in London. 

Dr. Hancock, in 1722, published an anti-fever trea- 
tise on the use of cold water, which went through seven 
editions in one year. 

After all, the merit of settling the use of cold water 
on a just principle, belongs incontestably to our own 
countryman, Carrie, whose work, published in 1797, 
upon the efficacy of water, may be considered the scien- 
tific base of Hydropathy. 

Tissot, in his " Advice to the People," published in 
Paris, 1770, shows the importance of cold water. 

Hoffmann, the famous German doctor, says, that if 
there existed any thing in the world that could be called 
a panacea, it was pure water : first, because that ele- 
ment would disagree with nobody; secondly, because 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. gO, 

it is the best preservative against disease ; thirdly, be- 
cause it would cure agues and chronic complaints ; 
fourthly, because it responded to all indications. 

Hahn, who was born in Silesia, in 1714, wrote an 
excellent work upon the water cure, which was lately 
found upon a book-stall, and purchased by Professor 
Oertel, for little more than one penny. This has been 
re-published, and is interesting to all who regard with 
attention that great moral change which the water cure 
is calculated to effect. 

Evan Hahnemann, father of Homoeopathy, in a work 
published at Leipsic, 1784, recommends fresh water, 
without which, he says, ulcers of any long standing can« 
not be cured, and adds, if any general remedy exists for 
disease, " it is water." 

In Dr. Hahn's work, it is stated that Pater Bernardo, 
a Capuchin Monk from Sicily, went in the year 1724, 
to Malta, and there made some most astonishing water 
cures, the fame of which spread throughout Europe : 
the water was iced, he used it internally and externally 
and allowed his patients to eat very little : he made a 
proposition that the doctors should take 100 patients, 
and said if they, by their mode of treating them, could 
cure 40, then would he undertake to cure 60 more 
easily and securely, and in shorter time. His cure of 
iced water, was effected just as well in winter as in 
summer. A case is cited of a man, 92 years of age, 
who was at the point of death from the virulence of a 
fever, which fever was cured with cold water only. 

THE TURKS. 

Slade, in his highly talented work, " Records of the 



40 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

East/' with reference to the Turks, very judiciously 
remarks, that " notwithstanding their ignorance of me- 
dical science, added to the extreme irregularity of their 
living, both as regards diet and exercise, one day dining 
off cheese and cucumbers, another day feeding on ten 
greasy dishes ; one month riding twelve hours daily, 
another month never stirring off the sofa ; smoking 
always, and drinking coffee to excess ; occasionally get- 
ting drunk, besides other intemperances — combining, in 
short, all that our writers on the subject designate in- 
jurious to health — the Turks enjoy particularly good 
health : and this anomaly is owing to two causes ; first, 
the religious necessity of washing their arms and feet 
and necks, from three to five times a day, always with 
cold water, generally at the fountains before the 
mosques, by which practice they become protected 
against catarrhal affections; second, by their constant 
use of the vapour bath, by which the humours that col- 
lect in the human frame, no doctors know how or why, 
occasioning a long list of disorders, are carried off by the 
pores of the skin. Gout, rheumatism, head-ache, con- 
sumption, are unknown in Turkey, thanks to the great 
physicians, vapour bath and cold bath ! No art has been 
so much vitiated in Europe, by theories, as the art of 
preserving health. Its professors, however, are begin- 
ning to recur to first principles ; and when the value of 
bathing shall be properly appreciated, three-fourths of 
the druggists will be obliged to close their shops." 

In our present state of civilization, nature is known 
but by name. None but those reduced to the last stage 
of poverty satisfy their thirst with water ! Rich and 
poor, men, women, and children, old and young, all 
avoid it. It is, perhaps, because water costs nothing, 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 4 J 

that we do not drink it, for, in our artificial life, we are 
led to esteem things but according to their venal price ; 
and, perhaps, we should drink more water, oftener 
breathe the pure air, and expose ourselves more wil- 
lingly to the rajs of the sun, if we did not divide water, 
air, and sun with the beggar. 

The Germans drink a great deal of water, but the 
English carry their distaste for it so far, that many per- 
sons never drank half a pint of it, undiluted, at one 
time, in their lives; and foolishly imagine that half a 
dozen tumblers of water would fill the stomach and 
cause inconvenience, whilst, perhaps, the same indivi- 
duals, in the course of the day, would think nothing of 
drinking many bottles of wine, soda water, brandy and 
water, tea, &c, all of which stimulants prove injurious 
to the stomach. To such an excess does a lady of the 
author's acquaintance carry her distaste for water, that 
she is very likely to ruin the health of her children by 
it. For some time the eldest, about four years old, had 
been sickly ; in consequence of which, when at Rome, 
the mother consulted a medical man, who said the child 
wanted nothing but water, which was given it, when 
the child got well immediately. On meeting the same 
family at Kissengen, the nursery-maid, being at the 
well, asked the author if he thought she might give the 
child water, saying, the children were always asking for 
water, but her mistress did not like them to drink it. 
" Certainly," was my reply ; " give her as much as she 
chooses to drink." 

After cold water, fresh air and exercise are the most 
important means of health. These are especially useful 
in giving life and activity to the skin, which seldom 
meets with proper attention, people generally not being 

c 



42 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

aware of the evil consequences attending their neglect 
of that most important organ of the human frame. 

The Abbe Sanctorius, a Florentine, was upwards of 
twenty years engaged in determining what quantity of 
perspiration ought to pass from the body, when in a 
healthy state. To ascertain this, he placed small glasses, 
some not larger than thimbles, having first cleaned and 
weighed them, on various parts of the human frame, 
when, after indefatigable research, the result proved 
that every man ought to pass from his body daily, from 
six to seven pounds : two and a half pounds are sup- 
posed to pass by the ordinary means of evacuation, and 
the remainder by the pores of the skin. This accounts 
for persons of sedentary habits being less healthy than 
those who take great exercise, and whose occupations 
are carried on in the open air. Many professions are 
indeed so injurious in their effects, that Carnizini, a 
physician of Padua, wrote a book, " De Moribus Arti- 
ficium," illustrating the peculiar diseases of tradesmen, 
arising from their respective occupations and trades, in 
which he showed that all sedentary pursuits were more 
or less injurious. 

As few persons take more than one pound and a half 
of food, and two pounds of liquid into their stomachs in 
a day, the question now arises, whence this great resi- 
due originates ; the answer is, that men, like all organic 
objects, feed upon air. Presuming this to be true, it 
follows that much depends upon what sort of air we 
breathe, — that of crowded or confined cities or rooms 
being productive of evil, whilst that of a fine open 
country contributes, as every one knows, to health and 
cheerfulness. 

The same reasoning will apply to clothing ; when the 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 4,3 

body is so covered as to exclude the external air, it 
necessarily follows, that the body cannot be so healthy 
as that more exposed to its influence. 

It being admitted that an adult, in health, exhales 
daily upwards of three pounds weight of superfluous 
juices ; if this exhalation should diminish in quantity, 
which necessarily must happen when the cutaneous 
organ has lost that energy which exercise and cold ablu- 
tions can alone support, — what must then become of the 
superfluous juices retained in the system ? 

The answer is easy. It runs through the internal 
organs, and becomes the source of all sorts of diseases ; 
emetics and purgatives remedy this, without doubt, but 
only for a time. Medical men see the discharges, and 
suppose them the substitutes for perspiration, but they 
do not perceive that the debility of the digestive organs, 
occasioned by this mode of treatment, becomes a new 
source of disease; whilst, on the contrary, water is a 
remedy, containing at once dissolving and strengthening 
properties, which would seem to nullify each other, but 
that we have daily evidence of the contrary. 

Several doctors, amongst them Oertel, have recog- 
nised in cold water this double virtue, which their prac- 
tice has constantly confirmed; but of all methods of 
administering cold water, that of Priessnitz seems to me 
to merit the preference. It attacks more energetically 
the peccant humours, and drives them more quickly 
from their position, in virtue of the numerous modifica- 
tions it allows of in the use of water. Its superiority 
is especially remarkable in the mode of perspiration 
which belongs to it exclusively, for this discharge ex- 
hausts, in great part, the morbid humours. 

Much, as has already been observed, may be said on 
c2 



44 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

the subject of clothes. Without speaking of their 
shape, which is seldom in harmony with the wants of 
the system, what hurtful effects must result from the 
quantity of coverings with which the body is loaded! 
We wish to protect the skin from the fresh air, and 
concentrate on it the heat that is ever exhaling from 
the body, arid thus we complete what warm baths, 
spirituous liquors, the want of exercise, and heavy nou- 
rishment, have so well begun. We do not perceive that 
by keeping the body warm, we weaken the skin, which 
becomes so sensitive to external changes, that we are 
incessantly obliged to augment the thickness and num- 
ber of its coverings. At last a time comes when no- 
thing more can be added to the clothing already too 
heavy. Then weak and irritable persons, whose num- 
bers augment daily, thanks to our erroneous system — 
remain at home, not aware of the innumerable inconve- 
niences to which such a resolution exposes them, and 
not knowing that washing the body three or four times 
in cold water, would enable them to leave their heated 
apartments, abandon flannel, and expose themselves 
without the slightest danger, to the healthy effects of 
the fresh air. 

Priessnitz tells a story of a lady of high rank, who 
had avoided the fresh air to such a degree, that she 
could only exist when near the tire, and very warmly 
dressed; she had even taken care that the two rooms 
leading to her own should also be well warmed. Here 
she daily received the visit of a doctor charged to calm 
her extreme irritability. The medical attendant and 
several of his colleagues having been unable to persuade 
her to leave her room, and tired of her eternal caprices, 
abandoned her to her unhappy lot. In this extremity, 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 45 

she applied to Priessnitz, who by cold bathing, and the 
application of wet bandages on the body, enabled her, 
on the fourth day, in rainy weather, to go out and 
walk for half an hour. She returned quite well to her 
then moderately heated apartment. 

It is the enervating softness and delicacy of our mo- 
dern customs, exemplified by this anecdote, which pre- 
sents the greatest obstacle to the use of cold water. 
Man looks for agreeable impressions, and avoids those 
which have not the attraction of pleasure. With a little 
courage he would feel that the feeling of displeasure 
which he dreads, is momentary, and that when he had 
acquired a conviction that it assured him the health of 
both mind and body, it would soon become agreeable, 
whilst the subjection to the enjoyment of the senses 
leaves after it enervation and disgust. Being unable to 
change the nature of the elements we inhabit, we should 
harden our bodies, familiarise ourselves with the intem- 
perance of the seasons, and turn them to the benefit of 
our health. It is in vain that the man whose fortune 
permits him to change the climate, looks for a milder 
sky ; if his effeminacy accompanied him, he would be 
like the lady of whom Priessnitz speaks, who near the 
fire was still cold. A warmer air would enervate his 
skin more and more ; and then, even in a Neapolitan 
climate, he would most certainly be as sensitive to cold, 
as, with a hardened body, he would be at his ease in the 
hut of an Esquimaux. 

Another obstacle to the external use of cold water, is 
the false belief that colds, which are the sources of much 
illness, result from it. People cannot understand, that 
a cold foot-bath, followed by suitable exercise, warms 



46 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

the feet, and that there is no surer way of preserving 
them from cold. 

The same incredulity is affected with regard to the 
revulsive effect of the cold foot-bath ; nevertheless, no- 
thing is better proved than its sovereign efficiency in 
removing head-ache. Every one knows that, after 
having washed the face and hands in cold water, an 
agreeable warmth is there felt, which warm water does 
not produce. Who has not found, that after any part 
of the body has been exposed to cold, rain, or snow, it 
becomes burning hot when the cold has ceased ? and 
who does not know that the reverse is the case after the 
use of warm water ? 

When we wash the body with cold water, we should 
do it quickly, and lose no time in dressing, and after- 
wards take exercise. Washing should be avoided when 
the parties are cold, because then the reaction or re- 
production of heat is slower. These precautions pre- 
vent the most delicate persons taking cold, let their 
skins be ever so sensitive, though they may not have 
been in the habit of using cold water. 

Professor Oertel was the first to publish to the world 
the astonishing cures which were effected at Graefenberg, 
and he was followed by Brand, Kroeber, Kurtz, Doering, 
Harnish, and many others, whose writings contributed 
to establish the reputation of Priessnitz, who by means 
of the various forms in which he administers water, at- 
tacks all diseases susceptible of cure, and very frequently 
establishes the health of those who have been declared 
incurable. All these writers declare that there is no 
remedy more calculated to attack morbid humours, and 
expel them from the system, than cold water thus ap- 



LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 47 

plied; and unlimited confidence, unshaken constancy, 
submissive obedience to all prescriptions, and a rigorous 
abstinence from all drugs and other forbidden substances, 
are the only means of insuring success. 

I contend that it is in the power of almost every one 
to attain to longevity; and in order that the principles 
which we advocate may be better understood, I would 
recommend the reader to peruse a small work, published 
in 1620, and translated into all modern languages, en- 
titled, " Sure Methods to attain a Long and Healthful 
Life," by Conaro, a Venetian nobleman. This author 
informs us, that in his younger days he was supposed to 
have ruined his health by intemperance, but that after 
attaining his fortieth year, he conceived the idea that 
it was possible, and determined on trying whether, by 
sobriety, a strict regimen and diet, to live free from 
pain, and to attain to an extreme old age. In this we 
find he succeeded; for in his eighty-third year he wrote 
a Treatise on a Sober Life : a second treatise appeared 
from the same author at the age of eighty-six ; and a 
third was written when at the advanced age of ninety- 
one, entitled, " An Earnest Exhortation to a Sober 
Life :" the fourth and last is a letter to Barbara Patri- 
arch, of Aquileia, at the age of ninety-five, describing 
the health, vigour, and perfect use of his faculties, which 
he then enjoyed. This venerable old gentleman attained 
his object, having resigned his last breath without an 
agony, sitting in an elbow-chair, being upwards of a 
hundred years old. His lady, almost as old as himself, 
survived him but a short time, and died an easy death. 

I will sum up my observations under this head, in the 
words of a medical man from Ghent, in Belgium. After 



48 LONGEVITY, WATER, ETC. 

witnessing what was going on at Graefenberg, for six 
weeks, he said: — " Water will cure all diseases which 
medicine can cure, and this when they are in a much 
more advanced stage than that at which drugs can act. 
I have no doubt that the time will come when medicine 
will be as completely a dead letter as the Latin is now 
a dead language, and that, eventually, people, when 
speaking of drugs, will refer to them as they do to 
other objects which time has rendered altogether obso- 
lete." 



CHAPTER II. 



GRAEFENBERG. 



Graefenberg is a colony of about 20 houses, 
placed about half way up one of the mountains of the 
Sudates, forming part of the small town of Freiwaldau, 
in Silesia, Austria, about 18 English miles from Neisse, 
70 from Breslau, 260 from Berlin, 200 from Dresden, 
160 from Prague, 63 from Olmutz, and 175 from 
Vienna. 

The town of Freiwaldau contains about o,000 inha- 
bitants, most of whom are engaged in agriculture or 
the manufacture of linen. As the accommodations at 
Graefenberg are not adapted to families, Freiwaldau is 
the resort of the fashionable world who have occasion to 
undergo the water cure, the upper part of most of the 
houses being let out as lodgings. 

The establishment at Graefenberg is most agreeably 
placed on a long slope, which extends from the valley 
to the top of the mountain. The views from it are 
magnificent, particularly in one direction, in which the 
plains of Prussia are seen in the distance. The highest 
houses chiefly belong to Mr. Priessnitz. The principal 
one is a large irregular building, in which he resides 
himself, and where there is a dining room fit for the 
accommodation of 500 or 600 persons, with numerous 
bedrooms for patients, and an enormous bath, furnished 



50 GRAEFENBERG. 

like the others from a cold spring, &c. The other 
houses are built without the slightest attention to archi- 
tectural rule or order, and are also furnished with baths. 
Some little distance below are other cottages called the 
Colony, most of which have the necessary requisite of a 
bath, and two of them have the advantages of douches. 
The proprietors of these cottages act as baddieners or 
servants to their inmates. In the houses belonging to 
Priessnitz there is room for about 200 persons, and 150 
more may find accommodation in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood: thus Priessnitz and his neighbours can ac- 
commodate between 300 or 400 persons, the greater 
part taking their meals at the public tables. To obtain 
an apartment in or near the establishment, it is neces- 
sary to go early in the season, for, with the exception of 
the months of December, January, and February, (when 
perhaps not more than 100 persons remain in this ele- 
vated region, the rest having either retired to Freiwal- 
dau, in the valley below, or left the establishment alto- 
gether,) it is extremely difficult to procure a room. 

Excessive heat is never felt at Graefenberg, on ac- 
count of its elevation, (600 feet above the town of Frei- 
waldau,) and the continued winds to which its isolated 
position naturally exposes it ; these would be annoying 
if there were not extensive woods to its rear, towards 
the summit of the mountain, which afford not only 
agreeable promenades, but protect the invalid against 
wind and sun. In these woods are the douches and 
springs which are resorted to, the former generally be- 
fore and after dinner, the latter during the whole day. 

The chief establishment at Graefenberg is badly ar- 
ranged, there being always a disagreeable smell in it, 
arising, First, from the cows, which, instead of being 



GRAEFENBERG. ${ 

confinecTin sheds, as with us, are kept under the house ; 
Secondly, from the public conveniences, which are on 
the staircases ; and Thirdly, from the kitchen, which is 
under the saloon, into which the dinner is introduced 
through a trap-door, by means of pulleys. The simpli- 
city of the apartments is in perfect keeping wdth the 
kind of life which is led at Graefenberg ; there is no- 
thing in them which it is possible to dispense with. A 
bedstead with a straw mattress, a chest of deal drawers, 
a table, two chairs, a wash-hand basin, a decanter and 
glass, comprise the whole furniture of the room, which is 
similar to a soldier's chamber in a barrack. Mr. Priess- 
nitz considers a want of comfort in the apartments an 
advantage, as it induces people to be a great deal out 
of doors, breathing the pure bracing vital air of the 
mountains ; and says that no persons ought to be in 
their room, except for the purposes of the cure or for 
sleeping : reading, writing, and thinking, are obstacles 
to the recovery of health. Instead of a small confined 
chamber, the public saloon is, however, always open, 
and here the valetudinarian may generally find amuse- 
ment ; for in no assembly of people in good health will 
it be possible to meet with more cheerfulness than in 
this body of invalids, although they have to contend all 
day against the troubles and difficulties of the treat- 
ment. For single persons, whose object is to effect a 
speedy cure, it is more desirable to put up with these 
inconveniences than to be at a distance, because, if at all 
disheartened by the treatment, they soon gain courage 
by the very extraordinary cures they hear of and see, 
by the health which they acquire, the assuagement of 
pain which they experience, from the certainty of being 
ultimately restored to convalescence, and what is more, 



52 GRAEFENBERG. 

by the fact which they learn from others, viz. that the 
treatment, though troublesome and disagreeable at first, 
soon becomes a matter of occupation and of necessity. 
At the town of Freiwaldau, the apartments, though not 
good, are not to be called bad, and are calculated for 
families : but here it is notorious, that the cure of dis- 
ease does not go on so well as up at Graefenberg. Nei- 
ther the walks nor the views are so inviting, nor in 
summer is the water so cold, which is a matter for 
serious consideration, as Mr. Priessnitz maintains that 
it cannot be at too low a temperature. This opinion is 
borne out by the fact of cures being more easily effected 
in winter than in summer. To persons unacquainted 
with the mode of cure, this will appear almost incredi- 
ble in a climate generally allowed to be excessively 
severe (Ther. sometimes 24° Reaumur) ; but that hun- 
dreds do submit to this treatment and are cured during 
the inclemency of an almost Siberian winter, is a truth 
too well attested by many thousands of persons, and 
supported by the evidence of authorities quoted in the 
subsequent pages, to be for a moment disputed. In 
summer the breeze is wanting at Freiwaldau, which 
renders Graefenberg so agreeable, and the visitors, 
many of whom are people of the first distinction, endea- 
vour to unite pleasure with the treatment, and with this 
view they constantly meet in society at night. It may 
be said that, in a general way, the patients retire be- 
tween 10 and 11 o'clock. But if the occupations of the 
cure are to be commenced, as is generally the case, at 
4 o'clock in the morning, it must be evident to all who 
reflect, that patients ought to be in bed by 1 o'clock. 

In Graefenberg all is in movement by this hour, 4 
a.m., and by 6 o'clock the promenades exhibit their 



GRAEFENBERG. 53 

motley groups ; and it must be wretched weather in- 
deed, that will keep the invalids in their cheerless 
rooms. This accustoms people to atmospheric changes ; 
and nowhere on earth can people accustomed to a civil- 
ized mode of living be found, who set weather at such 
defiance as these invalids. This arises from their con- 
fidence in the power of water, and Priessnitz's consum- 
mate talent in immediately putting matters right if any 
cold should result from the exposure ; but this is very 
rarely the case when people are accustomed to the use 
of cold water. 

Freiwaldau is the resort of incurables. Several per- 
sons, in the course of every season, are not accepted by 
Mr. Priessnitz ; these having come, perhaps, a long dis- 
tance, are unwilling to return to their homes, and there- 
fore take up their residence here, where, by the use of 
cold water, which Mr. P. cannot, nor does not, refuse 
administering to them, their pains are always relieved, 
and the duration of their lives protracted; and they 
then find that they can partake liberally of food, from 
which they had been prohibited for years. 

It is strongly recommended to those who may go to 
Graefenberg with a view of being cured, to follow 
rigidly the instructions of Mr. Priessnitz. Any person 
may breakfast or dine at the public table at Graefen- 
berg, the former costs 7 kr. or about 2%d. English, the 
latter 35 kr. or about 14d. For a gentleman residing at 
Freiwaldau, it is a good exercise to proceed up to break- 
fast and descend at Boemishdorf to the douche, having 
previously directed his servant to meet him there. At 
this village of Boemishdorf there are four douches for 
the use of the patients at Freiwaldau. In order to save 
persons the expense and toil of a long journey, if the 



54 GRAEFENBERG. 

disease bears at all upon any of those pointed out in the 
following pages as dubious, it is better to write to Mr. 
Priessnitz beforehand, in either the German or French 
language, because he is too prudent to undertake any 
case that he does not feel almost confident, sooner or 
later, of curing. 

In writing, if from England, it would expedite the 
letter, if the writer added " via Hamburgh, Breslau, and 
Neisse ; " the postage must be paid previous to putting 
it into the post, or it will not be forwarded. 

The expenses of living at Graefenberg, are as fol- 
lows ; — 

Board, including breakfast, dinner, and sup- 
per, (a week) 4 florins, or 
An apartment, 2 florins 
Baddiener, or servant, 2 florins . 

16 

The lowest fees usually paid to Mr. P. 2 flo- 
rins, or 4s. a week . . . .040 






8 








4 








4 






£10 



But here it must be observed that 2ji. or 4s. is the 
minimum ever offered to Mr. Priessnitz, for his attend- 
ance ; many increase it to double that sum, and others 
make handsome presents. However, it will be seen 
that a residence and medical attendance at Graefenberg 
is necessarily only attended with an expense of 11. ster- 
ling per week. At Freiwaldau a good lodging for a 
single person of two rooms, in the best situation, may 
be had at from 5s. to 10s. a- week. The usual price for 
dinner is Is. For a family, an apartment consisting of 



GRAEFENBERG, 55 

three or four rooms and a kitchen, will cost from \2s. 
to 20s. a week ; after this, a number of little articles 
must be purchased or hired, as the apartments are only 
furnished like those at Graefenberg. All articles of 
consumption are remarkably cheap, for instance, beef 
and mutton are 3d. per lb., veal 2^d., pork S^d.; price of 
bread in proportion. 

Carriages for excursions are obtained at the post- 
office ; to go up to Graefenberg the charge is \fl. or 2s. 

The mode of living at Graefenberg must strike every 
visitor with astonishment, when he learns that two- 
thirds of the patients, previous to going there, had been 
limited in the quantity and quality of their food, and 
that numbers of them had tasted little else than liquids 
for long and for short periods, according to the treat- 
ment they had been subjected to. At breakfast the 
table is supplied with brown bread, and most excellent 
milk and butter from Mr. Priessnitz's dairy : the same 
may be said of supper. At dinner there is soup, and 
beef boiled in it, a famous dish with Germans. After 
this, one occasionally sees pork, veal, beef, ducks, geese, 
potatoes, sour croute, gerkins, cucumbers, pastry, &c. : 
these are named to show the nature of the things which 
invalids are allowed to partake of, not that they all 
appear at one time, for in general it is complained that 
though plentiful, the food is coarse. Mr. Priessnitz, 
when any allusion is made to this subject, says, " that 
the cure would progress quicker if the table were much 
worse served than at present ; he has no objection to 
people eating heartily, but he insists on it that the 
food ought not to partake of those solid nourishing 
qualities which we are accustomed to in England." 
When it has been remarked to him that certain invalids 



56 



GRAEFENBERG. 



appeared to overload their stomachs, he replied, " that 
they might go on as they would, that water sooner or 
later would find its own level, and that as they pro- 
gressed towards a healthy state, their appetites would 
become more moderate ; a fact which observation fully 
confirms. At the same time that I admit this, if allowed 
to differ from such high authority, I should say that if 
more attention were paid to diet, cures would be effected 
in a much shorter time than they are. Mr. Priessnitz 
says that people must eat to acquire and keep up their 
strength ; and in this I perfectly agree with him ; all I 
would suggest is, a little more regard to the quality of 
the substances which individuals partake of. 

To sum up an account of Graefenberg, I may remark 
that, after having witnessed the brilliant cures which 
are there effected, nothing can be more interesting than 
to see the number of clever and enlightened people in 
all ranks of life who go there, the greater number to be 
cured, and others to study the means of curing. I shall 
now proceed to give an account of a man who, born a 
peasant, by his extraordinary genius has been enabled, 
while yet in the prime of life, to overcome prejudice, 
and to establish an entirely new system; the accomplish- 
ment of which undertaking by an individual in his iso- 
lated position, does indeed appear to border upon the 
fabulous and incredible. 



CHAPTER III. 

VINCENT TRIESSNITZ. 

Priessnitz's father was the proprietor of the small 
farm upon which the establishment we have been treat- 
ing of is placed. He gave his son an education in 
accordance with the times and place in which he lived ; 
but this was perhaps limited, in consequence of the 
blindness with which he (the father) was stricken in his 
advanced years, and of Priessnitz's uncle being a priest, 
so that in early life the cares of the family and farm de- 
volved upon him. It is said that an old man who used 
to practise the water cure upon animals, and occasionally 
upon the peasantry, was much encouraged by the elder 
Priessnitz ; that the latter invited him to instruct his 
son, and that it is from this source that Vincent Priess- 
nitz obtained his first ideas of the cold water cure. It 
would appear that Silesia was destined by Providence, 
to be the spot whence this great boon to humanity 
should extend itself to all nations ; for so far back as 
the year 1780, the great Dr. Hahn, who resided at 
Schweidnitz, about 30 miles from Graefenberg, wrote 
a book upon the virtues of cold water both for drinking 
and curing diseases ; but as the book was completely 
out of print, until found on a book-stall by Professor 
Oertel, in Bavaria, it is doubtful if Priessnitz ever ob- 
tained any information from that source. Early in life, 

D 



58 VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 

whilst engaged in hay-making, an accident which befell 
him was the principal cause of the dispensation of one 
of the greatest blessings to suffering humanity ; he was 
kicked in the face by a horse, which knocked him down, 
and the cart passing over his body broke two of his ribs. 
A surgeon from Freiwaldau being called in, declared 
that he could never be so cured as to be fit for work 
again. Having always possessed great presence of mind, 
and an unusual degree of firmness, the young Priessnitz 
not being pleased with this prognostication of the doctor, 
and being somewhat acquainted already with the treat- 
ment of trifling wounds by the means of cold water, he 
determined to endeavour to cure himself. To effect this 
his first care was to replace his ribs, and this he did by 
leaning with his abdomen with all his might against a 
table or a chair, and holding his breath so as to swell 
out the chest. This painful operation was attended 
with the success he expected ; the ribs being thus re- 
placed, he applied wet cloths to the parts affected, drank 
plentifully of water, ate sparingly, and remained in 
perfect repose. In ten days he was able to go out, and 
at the end of a year, he was again at his occupations 
in the fields. 

The fame of this extraordinary cure, soon spread 
abroad amongst his neighbours, who came to consult 
him when any accident occurred. By means of treat- 
ing their diseases, and occasionally those of cattle, he 
acquired a better knowledge of the virtues of water, 
and ventured upon more serious cases. This soon 
gained him renown, so that his house was beset with 
persons rich and poor, begging his advice. From having 
watched so many diseases with his observing eye and 
inquiring mind, he soon acquired the knowledge requi- 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 59 

site to detect them by their symptoms. Having no 
remedy but plain spring water, no theories to puzzle 
his brain, and no guide but nature, which spoke to him 
the more clearly because there was no art to stifle its 
voice, he soon perceived the defect of the present system 
of diet and mode of treating diseases, and found out by 
the various applications of water, means of remedying 
most of those bodily evils which mar our happiness in life. 
Priessnitz's renown soon brought down upon him the 
envy of his neighbours and of the people of Freiwaldau, 
who were very ready to become his persecutors. Many 
imagined that an access of strangers would enhance the 
price of comestibles, some were jealous of his fame, 
others imagined him possessed of an evil spirit, but the 
foremost or most prominent of his adversaries were 
the medical men. About this time he had effected 
cures on a great number of people, when the doctors 
resolving to put an end to his quackery, as they called 
it, denounced him to the authorities at Vienna, alleging 
that the sponges used in ablutions contained some medi- 
cal property capable of producing these wonderful cures, 
which, if true, would have put him under the jurisdic- 
tion of the law. The sponges were decomposed, and 
the fallacy of the allegation proved before the tribunal, 
in a question as to the cure of a certain miller. This 
man had been a martyr for years to the gout. The 
doctor declared that the man was indebted to him for 
his recovery, whilst in reality he had been restored by 
Priessnitz. On being questioned by the judge as to 
who had cured him, he replied, " Both ; the doctor 
freed me of my money, and Priessnitz of the gout :" 
this caused a laugh against the doctor, and put an end 
to all cavils from the faculty. 

d2 



(30 VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 

The Austrian government, perhaps the most jealous 
in Europe in allowing the assembling of people for any 
purpose whatever, and particularly violent against empi- 
rics, or the sale of any medicine by any others than 
regularly certificated persons, sent a commission of in- 
quiry to Graefenberg. This commission found that the 
only agents there employed in the curing of disease 
were cold water, air, and exercise ; and they had such 
evidence of its beneficial effects, and the total absence 
of all danger, even in the most advanced stage of disease, 
that, on their report, the government allowed Mr. Priess- 
nitz to continue his praiseworthy operations. Since that 
time, he has been honoured by the friendship of some 
of the Royal Family, and by very many of the first 
people in the empire. 

From the commencement of his mode of cure to the 
present time, there have been no less than 7000 persons 
at Graefenberg to seek his aid; that is, from 1829 to 
1842. This does not include the numbers whom he 
treated before he regularly declared his intention of de- 
voting himself entirely to this science, nor the people 
of the neighbourhood, to whom, whilst he yet conducted 
his farm, he devoted himself with such assiduity, that 
what with his labours in husbandry, and in the relief of 
the sick, which latter occasioned him to go long dis- 
tances and return on foot, in all weathers, by night and 
day, he very much endangered his health. For a long 
time he complained of weakness, and pain in his chest. 
It is, however, gratifying to find, that since he has ac- 
customed himself to ride on horseback, which he always 
does when going anywhere, and has made use of his own 
cold fomentations, or umschlags, for his chest, he has 
been quite restored. As his habits are so simple, (going 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. Q{ 

to bed early, and rising in summer at four, in winter at 
five o'clock, and immediately plunging into a cold bath,) 
and as he knows how to ward off colds, or any other 
acute diseases, it may fairly be hoped that he will live 
to an advanced age. On the 4th of October, 1841, he 
attained his forty- second year ; but, from the causes we 
have stated, he appears somewhat older. Notwithstand- 
ing his astounding success, his accumulation of wealth, 
(of which he is now said to possess upwards of 50,000/.) 
and the manner in which he is courted and respected by 
the first nobles in Germany, Mr. Priessnitz retains all 
the humility of his former humble station. It is the 
custom in this country, with the peasantry, to kiss the 
hands of their superiors, on entering and leaving a room. 
If ladies are present, he never omits doing this. He is 
a man of deep reflection, and of few words, for he says 
but little, and rarely promises any thing ; consequently, 
his words when spoken are considered as sacred by high 
and low, as the responses of the Delphic Oracle. Many 
people complain that he does not talk enough, and doc- 
tors who come here to learn the treatment, say that he 
never explains any thing to them. With respect to the 
first allegation, it must be evident, that a man who has 
all the year round from 500 to 600 patients, besides the 
peasantry of the neighbourhood that may require his 
aid, cannot have a great deal of breath to throw away. 
Let any person speak to him on his own or his family's 
case, and he will find his reply that of a man of profound 
sense, — a reply that he, Priessnitz, never wishes to re- 
tract, and for which he will give his reasons in the most 
unaffected manner possible. But with respect to the 
second complaint, it must be avowed that he has no very 
great regard for medical men, because no one has suf- 



Q2 VINCENT PR1ESSNITZ. 

fered more from their vindictive feelings than himself; 
besides, he has ever found it a work of supererogation 
to endeavour to dispossess them of their prejudices ; nor 
has he time or inclination to enter into disputes upon a 
mode of treatment which he knows, as directly emanat- 
ing from nature, to be always true to itself. He has 
frequently witnessed the conduct of medical men who 
came to inquire into the mode of treatment, who took a 
carriage at Freiwaldau, w T ent up to Graefenberg, looked 
at the baths, the douches, rooms, &c, and proceeded 
home to decry a discovery, of the merits of which they 
knew nothing. 

That Mr. Priessnitz has founded some sort of theory 
on his mode of treatment, after so many years of suc- 
cessful practice, and with the help of that inquiring 
genius, and that natural impenetrable calmness \vhich so 
particularly distinguishes him, there can be little doubt ; 
and this theory has never failed him in his treatment of 
the most complicated diseases. But he has no time for 
writing ; and if he had, he would find it extremely diffi- 
cult to explain himself; since it is an extraordinary fact 
that no two cases are treated exactly alike. There is 
no doubt that Mr. Priessnitz owes all his experience to 
his utter ignorance of medical science, which, indeed, is 
his greatest advantage ; for what does the history of me- 
dicine offer, but the discouraging picture of the insta- 
bility of principles, and a series of theories succeeding 
each other, without any one of them being able to con- 
tent an upright spirit, or satisfy an inquiring mind? 

We can hardly expect, however, that Mr. Priessnitz 
will ever attempt to give the world any medical or sys- 
tematic details. This is only left to intelligent persons 
and young medical practitioners, who should observe all 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. g f j 

that is observable, and communicate their observations, 
so as to form a whole of that which is most important. 
Fortune and fame will be the reward of any of our 
students who may go to Graefenberg, and study the 
proceedings of this extraordinary man. To do this ef- 
fectually they must be possessed of patience, as it can 
only be studied on the spot; nothing but danger would 
result from acting on the dicta of books, as will be shown 
by the following case whilst the author was at Graefen- 
berg. A person who had recently lost his wife and two 
children, was attacked with brain fever. Mr. Priessnitz 
ordered him a tepid bath, in which he sat, and was 
rubbed by two men, who were occasionally changed. 
The man became so deranged that it was with difficulty 
he could be kept in the bath : in ordinary cases this 
disease succumbs to the treatment in two or three hours; 
but the patient in this case became speechless at the end 
of this time. Mr. Priessnitz, with that coolness which 
is so leading a feature of his character, said, " Keep on, 
until he either talks much or goes to sleep." The latter 
the man at last did, but not until he had been in the 
bath for nine hours and a half; that is to say, they com- 
menced at one o'clock in the day, and the patient fell 
asleep from exhaustion at half-past ten at night: he was 
then put to bed, and next day the fever had left him, 
and though weak he was able to walk about. A similar 
case had not occurred at Graefenberg for nearly three 
years. This shows the difficulty of any one practising 
who has not well studied the cure : if the practitioner 
had become alarmed after the first two or three hours, 
and had taken the patient out of the bath to try some 
other method, the consequences might have proved fatal. 
Many doctors have been there, some on their own 



(34 VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 

account, and others on that of their respective govern- 
ments, who, after a residence of three or four months, 
went away imagining that they were as great or greater 
professors of the science than Mr. Priessnitz, and that 
they perfectly understood the treatment. On arriving 
at home they have opened institutions, and Graefenberg 
exhibits at this moment many melancholy proofs of 
their total ignorance of even the first principles of the 
science. The mere application of cold water, in a 
variety of forms, appears so simple, that one constantly 
hears people who do not even understand the composi- 
tion of that element, pretend that, when they arrive at 
home, they shall be able to doctor themselves and their 
friends ; but this will be found a dangerous experiment. 
Mr. Priessnitz's first endeavour is to alleviate pain, 
so that the patients may avail themselves of air and 
exercise. How far this object is attained may be judged 
of, from the circumstance that out of 500 or 600, the 
usual average number of patients under his charge, there 
are seldom a dozen of persons in bed at one time. If their 
complaint be fever, he is so completely master of the 
case, that no one ever keeps his bed, and seldom his 
room, for more than two or three days, excepting in 
cases of typhus, a malady which generally takes twelve 
or fourteen days to eradicate, but hardly ever longer. 
The same remark will apply to rheumatism. If the suf- 
ferer can only reach Graefenberg, he may be sure of 
immediate relief, such as elsewhere would be called a 
cure, and which is repeated many times a year ; but the 
cure can only be regarded then as just commenced, it 
being Mr. P.'s object to eradicate the cause of malady 
from the system. What is understood by a cure at 
Graefenberg, is a perfect cleansing of the body of all 



VINCENT PRIESSN1TZ. Q§ 

impurities, a radical cure of that which has been the 
source of disease. Cases of no very long standing 
succumb to the treatment sometimes in two or three 
months, others resist for one or two years. Supposing, 
for an example, a young man to be attacked by gout, let 
him apply to Priessnitz and he will be cured immedi- 
ately ; but another, who has inherited it from his family, 
and who has been a bon vivant himself for a number of 
years, cannot expect to be made a new man, but with 
the exercise of patience : yet he will have this satisfac- 
tion, that during the cure he will find himself, in other 
respects, in perfect health, never be confined to his 
room, and be able to take plenty of exercise. This 
observation is made from the reports of several persons 
who are now undergoing the cure ; these all agree in the 
fact, that though, previous to going there, they had been 
bedridden for years, they have never known what it 
was to be confined to their room for a single day, or 
even hour, since their arrival. Patients at Graefenberg, 
with hardly any exceptions, eat well and sleep well, un- 
til they have what is called a crisis, i. e. till the disease 
comes to a head. Then we behold water warring against 
drugs and their effects. The power of the former is so 
great, that nothing can resist it ; and the latter must 
make their exit by some means or other ; by diarrhoea, 
by urine, by boils or ulcers, or fever, &c. These to the 
invalid, at a distance, carry with them cause for fear ; 
but at Graefenberg, a crisis is hailed with the greatest 
joy as the harbinger of health. It is at this juncture 
that the genius of that extraordinary man, Priessnitz, 
shows itself. He is never seen to hesitate, nor does the 
patient ever want confidence in him, for Priessnitz was 
never known to fail ; when once the crisis, which is his 



6(3 VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 

object, is obtained, he can determine the extent of the 
cure, and time needful for completing it. All persons 
are expected to drink plentifully of water, the quantity 
depends upon circumstances, some ten or twelve, (none 
less,) whilst others extend it to twenty glasses a day. 
An inexperienced person would think that eating ad 
libitum* was injudicious; but Mr. Priessnitz lays no 
restrictions on his patients in this respect. The conse- 
quence is, that the mountain air, the exercise, and the 
water, produce an appetite, the satisfying of which, 
under any other circumstances, would be highly condu- 
cive to indigestion; but Mr. Priessnitz persists in saying 
that water will digest anything, and that the evil of 
eating too much, will correct itself as the patient gets 
stronger, and approaches to convalescence. Whatever 
may be the state of the patient's disease, 110- surgical 
operations ever take place, nor are patients, under any 
circumstances, subjected to the loss of blood, to blister- 
ing, or indeed any of the expedients resorted to under 
the allopathic system. If costiveness, indigestion, or 
inactivity of the organs, be the cause of complaint, water 
speedily removes it ; if fever, wet sheets, and frequent 
immersions in the bath have the desired effect. 

The use of cold water, as we have already shown, has 
been known from the remotest period, and the endeavour 
to produce perspiration in disease, is as old as medicine 
itself; but it is to Priessnitz that we are indebted for 
the manner of exciting perspiration without the aid of 
drugs, and of keeping it up at pleasure by cold water, 
drank in more or less quantities, and for replenishing 

* Tt must, however, be remarked, that almost all men, who have 
at all studied the science, are of opinion that too much is eaten at 
Graefeuberg. 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. £7 

the loss thus sustained, by plunging the body into cold 
water when it is in this state. This method is so 
diametrically opposed to that which has been hitherto 
practised, that at first sight it would appear dangerous, 
and even insane. Nevertheless, none of those inconve- 
niences or evils have attended it, which the prejudiced 
might think it liable to. Far from this, it has served 
and does serve every day, to cure the most aggravated 
diseases. The discovery of the soothing, cooling and 
strengthening effect of the wet sheet, is of itself suffi- 
cient to ensure Mr. Priessnitz the blessings of posterity. 
There is hardly an instance of its not being applied to 
the patient at some period of his treatment ; whilst it 
may be fairly asserted, that not more than one or two in 
twenty are subjected to sweating, that being an opera- 
tion confined almost entirely to strong or robust consti- 
tutions. Nor can we withhold from him the merit 
arising from the invention of an infinity of modes of 
applying cold water, by way of the douche, the sitz 
bath, wet sheets, &c, and of bringing about the desired 
object, by the combination of all these. The application 
of wet sheets in cases of fever, or extreme debility, is 
almost miraculous in its effects. Sweating, immediately 
succeeded by the cold bath, Mr. Priessnitz says, in its 
effects, is like a smith striking upon hot instead of cold 
iron : the value of these different discoveries will be 
explained under their different heads. Mr. Priessnitz, 
who may be considered as nature's doctor, never feels 
the pulse, but judges by the temperament of the skin, 
and by the eye. It is a common expression at Graefen- 
berg, that he sees into the human body, as though it 
were made of glass. The most extraordinary part of 
this simple cure is, that though Graefenberg may be 



gg VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 

considered a refuge for the destitute in disease, death is 
of such rare occurrence, that one might almost say no 
one ever dies under the treatment : out of nearly 3,000 
visitors who have been at Graefenberg within the last 
two years, seven or eight only have died; most of these 
were entirely exhausted previous to their arrival, and 
were only received by Mr. Priessnitz as extremely 
doubtful cases. 

Mr. Priessnitz's mode of treatment strengthens the 
infant, and its application to old age and decrepi- 
tude is like that of adding oil to an almost exhausted 
lamp. 

We are quite aware that a work asserting these extra- 
ordinary results from such humble means, will, like the 
first tidings of all great discoveries, be received with 
doubt and disbelief; although this differs from most 
others, inasmuch as it does not require time to develope 
its truth. The sceptic has only to make an agreeable 
journey of a few days to Graefenberg, where he will at 
once be satisfied of the facts, or be able to refute them. 
I know they will be too well attested by hundreds of 
living witnesses to cause any fear in my mind as to the 
result ; and I therefore say to those who do not, as well 
as those who do labour under disease, " Go to Graef- 
enberg and mix with the patients, amongst whom will 
be found representatives of infancy, youth, manhood, 
and old age ; many of whom speak French, and some 
English; judge there for yourselves!" Since all are 
subjected to the infirmities of human nature, there is no 
person, whether in health or otherwise, who may not be 
benefited by the trip, as they may acquire information 
which will be of the utmost importance to them for the 
remainder of their lives. 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 



69 



The hydropathic treatment differs from all others, 
inasmuch as it is administered to hundreds of persons 
congregated in one place, who are in the constant habit 
of meeting and discussing its merits, so that nothing 
important can happen to any single individual, that is 
not known to the whole body : whilst under the allo- 
pathianand homeopathian treatment patients are treated 
at their homes, so that none but their own families know 
the results of either mode of treatment. 

After the eminent services which this great man, with 
such modesty, and without the slightest pretension, has 
rendered to society, we cannot be surprised at his having 
succeeded in securing general esteem. This has been 
shown him by crowned heads and by nobles of the ad- 
joining countries. At present, in 1841, there are under 
his treatment at Graefenberg and Freiwaldau, an arch- 
duchess, ten princes and princesses, at least 100 counts 
and barons, military men of all grades, several medical 
men, professors, advocates, &c, in all about 500 ; and 
the following is a list which shows the progress of the 
establishment up to the present time : — 



1829 . 


. 


. 45 


1830 . 


, , 


. 54 


1831 . 


, . 


. 62 


1832 . 


, . 


. 118 


1833 . 


, 


. 206 


1834 . 


, 


. 256 


1835 . 


. 


312 


1836 . 


, . 


. 469 


1837 . 


. , 


570 


1838 . 


. 


800 


1839 . 


. 


1400 and upwards 



70 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 



1840 . 
1841, say 



. 1576 
. 1400 



7298 



In consequence of similar establishments having 
sprung up in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Moldavia, Wal- 
lachia, and in most states of Germany, it is expected 
that the numbers of this year, 1841, will not be equal 
to those of the last ; up to the beginning of September 
there had been about 1150. It may not be uninterest- 
ing to see how the 1576 of last year were composed; 
as by it we may infer that, as the distances and con- 
sequent expenses of travelling in most instances were 
great, the patients were of the better order of society. 
It must be observed, that the trades-people or peasantry 
to whom Mr. Priessnitz may have given advice, are not 
included in this list. 





Kurgaste, or 

" Guests of 

the Cure" in 

1840. 


From Austria 


. 367 


,, Galicia 


. 93 


„ Poland . 


. 128 


„ Hungary 


. 137 


„ Prussia . 


. 527 


„ Saxony . 


. 21 


,, Bavaria . 


. 13 


„ Wurtemburg 


. 15 


,, Duchy of Baden 


. 3 


„ England 


. 2 


,, Mecklenburg 


. 13 


„ Sweden 


. 7 


„ Russia . 


. 94 


„ France . 


. 15 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 



71 



From Belgium 
Italy . 
Hamburg 

Moldavia and Wallachia 
Hanover 
Switzerland . 
Cracovie 
Denmark 
Brunswick 
America 
Other Countries 



Kurgaste, or 
" Guests of 
the Cure" in 
1840. 

7 

S 

39 
27 

4 

6 
25 
12 

5 
12 
12 



In all 1576 



On ascending to Graefenberg by the carriage road, 
the traveller will see a fountain erected by Wallachian 
and Moldavian patients, with this inscription — 

V.R 

" Au Genie de VEau Froide." 

And on descending by the foot-path to Freiwaldau, 
he will find another monument of a lion, on a pedestal, 
in bronze, erected by the Hungarians, with the follow- 
ing inscriptions in their language. 



FRONT. 



" As a punishment to man for his presumption in 
despising the beverage which he had in common with 
wild animals, he became diseased, infirm, and debili- 
tated. 



72 



VINCENT PRIESSNITZ. 



" Priessnitz causes the primitive virtues of water to 
be again known, and by it infuses fresh vigour into the 
human race ." 

SIDE. 

" Priessnitz, the benefactor of mankind, merits the 
grateful and honourable remembrance of the Hungarian 
nation; the erectors of this monument invite their 
countrymen of future ages to the vivifying springs at 
Graefenberg. 

" MDCCCXXXIX et XL." 

Besides what has been done in other states, upwards 
of forty hydropathic establishments have sprung up in 
different parts of Germany. There is hardly a journal 
published in that country that has not taken some notice 
of this mode of treating disease ; and books have been 
published on the subject in almost every continental 
language. England alone forms an exception, which it 
is difficult to account for. And these enormous results, 
this wonderful revolution in the medical world, as I may 
well call it, have all been attained by the zeal, vigour, 
and genius of one man, and that man originally an un- 
educated peasant. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

The question now arises, what complaints are curable 
by Mr. Priessnitz's treatment ? On this subject I shall 
quote the opinion of Rausse, author of an excellent 
work on Hydropathy, which has passed through several 
editions. He says, " It is impossible for a man to die 
of an acute disease who has sufficient strength left him 
to allow of water producing its reaction, and who 
from the commencement of his disease, is treated by 
Hydropathy. Every one who is not acquainted with 
the water cure will naturally doubt its wonderful power, 
and every doctor, when he reflects upon the number of 
patients labouring under acute diseases, who have pe- 
rished under his hands, will, no doubt, laugh loudly 
enough at the new water system:" nevertheless, says 
this author, " I am not disposed to advance a doctrine 
which may be put down, and I therefore here publicly 
make known that I am ready by deeds, as well as with 
words, to prove all that I have stated as to the healing 
power of water." Rausse further adds, that to state 
what diseases are curable, would be a tedious occupa- 
tion, and, therefore, he sums up in a few words those 
that are not; viz., all chronic diseases of the lungs ; all 
organic defects, and all diseases in people whose mus- 
cles and sinews are past all power of action, and from 

E 



74 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 



whom the vital principle has passed beyond recovery : 
and adds, " the cure of all acute diseases to Priessnitz 
is mere child's play, in no instance of nervous fevers 
or inflammations, in any stage, was he ever known to 
lose a patient ; and what is still more worthy of remark, 
a radical cure is effected in a few days, without the sub- 
sequent debility which would result from any other 
treatment. Hydropathy completely supersedes the 
dreadful necessity of cutting men's flesh, or amputating 
their limbs. In chronic diseases, it may especially be 
remarked, that all persons suffering from the effect of 
mercury, in its manifold and dangerous forms, will 
derive instantaneous benefit, and, in the end, perfect 
health from Priessnitz's water cure. I can affirm that 
half Priessnitz's patients are under the influence of this 
pernicious drug. Then follow those obstinate com- 
plaints, gout, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, obstruction of 
the bowels, and their concomitant ills ; also scrofula, 
syphilis, in fact, all diseases known by the term chronic, 
or connected with the nerves. 

" First. — By this treatment the bad juices are brought 
to discharge themselves from the skin. 

" Secondly. — A fresh or new circulation is given to 
the diseased or inactive organs, and better juices are 
infused into them daily. 

" Thirdly. — All the functions of the body are brought 
into their original healthy state, not by operating upon 
any particular function, but upon the whole system." 

These opinions of Rausse are supported by another 
author, Mr. Raven, who writes as follows : — 

" The groundwork of the water cure is to warm the 
body by passive means only, so that an active heat may 
proceed from the system ; and to produce this desired 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 75 

effect, cold water is used in an infinity of ways. This 
is not effected by weakening the body, or by any depri- 
vation of food ; no bleeding : no surgical operations are 
resorted to, nor any description of medicine ever em- 
ployed ; but the great secret is, to subdue disease, and 
cleanse the system of all medicine, in a way dictated by 
nature, and not by art. The cure is only to be effected 
by great perseverance, a constant internal and external 
application of cold water, and by plain living. By the 
means of these necessary agents, strength is restored, 
and the system tranquillized." 

Professor Munde, who was perfectly cured of a pain- 
ful complaint during his residence at Graefenberg, col- 
lected sufficient facts to form a most interesting work 
upon the system there adopted, on which we have 
drawn largely in the following pages. He enumerates 
a great number of diseases, the cure of which he wit- 
nessed himself; amongst them are, gout, rheumatism, 
tic douloureux, hernia, syphilis, piles, hypochondria, 
fevers of all kinds, inflammations, cholera, the gripes, 
&c. : and adds, that in all ailments, in the eradication 
of which medicine is known to be more or less power- 
less, the treatment at Graefenberg triumphs daily. The 
following are Professor Munde's views of the water 
cure : — 

Priessnitz contends that all diseases which are not 
occasioned by accidents, arise from vicious humours, 
which he calls bad juices ; from these result either ge- 
neral derangement of the system, or disorder of some of 
the organs. Consequently, the object of his curative 
method is to expel the bad juices, and replace them by 
good. The means which Priessnitz employs to attain 
this end, are water, air, exercise, and diet. Is he right 

e2 



7(3 THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

in looking for the diseases, or, at least, their causes, in 
the humours ? This is a question which I do not pre- 
tend to decide ; but if we judge by the success which 
attends his method, when followed up with constancy, 
we should say he must be right ; for, generally speak- 
ing, with the aid of the above four means, he cures all 
diseases which professional men acknowledge to be the 
result of drugs ; nay, more, this view of things agrees 
with the opinion of some of the most celebrated doctors 
of the last century, to whose practice Priessnitz's treat- 
ment bears a great resemblance. 

In 1792, there appeared in Brunswick, a work dedi- 
cated to Frederick William III., where the entire me- 
thod of Priessnitz is proposed ; viz., cold bathing, cold 
food, much exercise-, free air, and moderation in the use 
of spirituous liquors, and of spices, and advice more 
especially given to persons attacked by rheumatism. 
Some lines before these, the author puts people on their 
guard against the abuse of medicine, and says, seriously, 
of two invalids, one of whom will not hear of any re- 
medy, whilst the other recurs to medicine on the slight- 
est indisposition, that the wisest is the first ; for nature, 
in the majority of illnesses, knows how to relieve herself 
without having recourse to external influences, provided 
she has time and repose. 

Various causes engender vicious juices ; the principal 
are food of bad quality, the excess of good, the sup- 
pression of perspiration, the want of exercise, and men- 
tal affliction, acting violently upon the system ; such as 
anger, sorrow, care, or melancholy. Priessnitz consi- 
ders all sour and heating aliments unwholesome, also all 
sorts of spices, alcohol, beer, coffee, tea, wine, and spi- 
rituous liquors, the property of which is to engender 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 77 

and stimulate bad juices; chocolate, acids, pepper, mus- 
tard, and salt fish, are forbidden those who submit to 
his treatment. Priessnitz has no objection to indiges- 
tible food, such as all sorts of meat, even pork, geese, 
clucks, and all farinaceous food; but to delicate sto- 
machs, he advises a moderate use of them. Too much 
food, when even easy of digestion, forms the juices in 
too great a quantity and too thick, which is the source 
of many diseases : but in most cases, it escapes digestion, 
remains in the stomach and intestines, and by its corrup- 
tion produces serious accidents : indigestions are fre- 
quently the cause of death. 

From the most remote antiquity, it was believed that 
in general, a man exhaled daily three pounds of super- 
fluous juices in perspiration, and this fact has been 
proved most incontestably by the experiments made by 
Sanctorius, who passed (it may be said) twenty years 
of his life in a balance, weighing carefully every day 
how much he had introduced into his belly, and how 
much went out of it. By this we may easily conceive 
the disorders produced by the suppression of so impor- 
tant a function, and by the retention of so large a quan- 
tity of excremental juices in the system. How many 
disorders are we not acquainted with, which are to be 
cured by perspiration alone. The great organ, the skin, 
in the functions of life, is of much more importance 
than is generally believed. It is really astonishing, that 
even persons who are convinced of this truth, neglect, 
in a manner quite inexcusable, to give to this essential 
organ the attention or cultivation which it requires. 
Our astonishment is doubled when we see medical men 
themselves treat the subject with so little attention. 
Does not this arise from their having become too deli- 



78 THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

cate themselves to use cold water for their own health, 
so that they cannot recommend to their patients what 
they do not do themselves ? The washing of the whole 
of the body to them appears in effect an impracticable 
matter, but they see no objection to purging, and giving 
emetics to entire families — a practice which is very far 
from being effectual. Cold ablutions are, beyond doubt, 
very requisite to keep up the exhalation necessary for 
the maintenance of health ; but the drinking of cold 
water contributes most essentially to the accomplish- 
ment of that object, preventing the stagnation of juices, 
and ensuring a regular circulation. It is also not less 
important to bring the body, as often as possible, in 
contact with fresh air, since it is from the air that we 
imbibe the vital principle : it is the oxygen entering 
into the constitution that keeps alive the spark of life ; 
the less there is of air and oxygen, the less there is of 
life. Here is all the mystery of our existence. 

The pernicious influence of mental sufferings, and of 
violent passion, is too well known to need any comment. 
Undoubtedly, it is not always possible to avoid either 
one or the other ; however, anger may be moderated, 
or at least the occasions which give rise to it may be 
in great part avoided. In simplifying and limiting our 
wants we lessen and soften down our cares. In life 
there is no condition that may not be ameliorated by 
patience. Abstinence in the use of water is in its turn 
a source of evil ; its immediate result is the thickening 
of the juices, and generating an acrimony which gains 
upon the blood : a degeneracy which the dissolving vir- 
tue of water would have prevented. It is a great and 
a dangerous error to think that water may be supplied by 
tea, coffee, and beer. Women in particular are injured 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 79 

considerably by the prevalence of this mistaken notion ; 
they forget that water is the first dissolvent in nature, 
that it softens and attenuates the thick and acrid hu- 
mours, and that, decomposed by the digestive organs, it 
communicates to the system a new life, in supplying 
the oxygen which enters into its internal composition. 
Before I conclude this article upon the cold water treat- 
ment, I would again press upon the attention of inva- 
lids, the complete absence of all danger, and the extra- 
ordinarily quick progress, which in most cases is made 
towards convalescence under this treatment; and must 
here again observe, that Mr. Priessnitz's great talent 
lies in judging what will be suitable to all constitutions, 
and all ages, from the child in the cradle to persons of 
the most advanced age. Some people are made to per- 
spire every day, every other day, or every third day, 
whilst perhaps, for at least one-half of his patients, he 
never prescribes perspiration at all, but most judi- 
ciously subjects them to treatment, that whilst it brings 
about a cure, has the effect of strengthening and invi- 
gorating the system. 

This peculiar talent, as far as the author has been 
able to learn, is confined to Mr. Priessnitz. Books 
have been written, showing the different modes by 
which it is affirmed people may treat themselves ; but 
how far it is judicious to try to do so, may be judged 
from the fact, that in no instance is Priessnitz ever 
known to pursue one steady undeviating course. His 
proceedings, as indeed we may easily imagine, all de- 
pend upon the age of the parties, the soundness or 
debility of their constitutions, their temperaments, the 
extent and duration of their disease. The effects of 
water are influenced by too many incidental circum- 



g() THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

stances to admit of any fixed rules. This renders it 
highly desirable for persons who have the means, to go to 
Graefenberg, rather than to treat their own diseases, or 
to intrust their cure to any of the other establishments 
in Germany ; for it is doubtful if any of their propri- 
etors have studied the science sufficiently, and still more 
so, if any one of them will ever possess the penetrating 
genius which distinguishes Priessnitz : for it might with 
great justice be asked, " Where, in the history of the 
world, do we find any medical man, who, like Priess- 
nitz, has had under his charge nearly 3000 patients 
within two years ; who can say with him, that he has 
not lost during that time more than two individuals ? " 
After being cured at Graefenberg, however, great pre- 
caution is requisite before we indulge in any sort of 
dissipation, or the consequences may be serious. 

The Rev. JOHN WESLEY, A.M., 

published a work in 1747, (nearly a century ago,) which 
went through thirty-four editions, called " Primitive 
Physic, or an Easy and Natural Method of Curing most 
Diseases." 

After deprecating the manner in which drugs were 
imposed upon mankind, the mysteries with which the 
science of medicine is surrounded, and the interested 
conduct of medical men, the Rev. Gentleman proceeds 
to show, that he was fully aware of the healing powers 
of water, and by the long list which he has given, and 
which follows, it will be evident that he thought water 
capable of curing almost every disease to which human 
nature is exposed. 

" The common method of compounding and decom- 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. gj 

pounding medicines, can never be reconciled to common 
sense. Experience shows, that one thing will cure most 
disorders, at least as well as twenty put together. Then 
why do you add the other nineteen ? Only to swell 
the apothecary's bill ! nay, possibly on purpose to pro- 
long the distemper, that the doctor and he may divide 
the spoil. 

"How often by thus compounding medicines of op- 
posite qualities, is the virtue of both utterly destroyed ? 

" Nay, how often do those joined together destroy 
life, which singly might have preserved it ? 

" This occasioned that caution of the great Boerhaave, 
against mixing things without evident necessity, and 
without full proof of the effect they will produce when 
joined together, as well as of that they produce when 
asunder ; seeing (as he observes) several things which 
separately taken are safe and powerful medicines, when 
compounded not only lose their former powers, but com- 
mence a strong and deadly poison." 

In recommending to his followers the use of water, 
Mr. Wesley proceeds to state, that cold bathing cures 
young children of the following complaints: — 



Convulsions, coughs, gravel 
Inflammations of ears, na- 
vel, and mouth 
Rickets 
Cutaneous inflammations 



Pimples and scabs 
Suppresion of urine 
Vomiting 
Want of sleep 



Water, he further adds, frequently cures every ner- 
vous* and every paralytic disorder. In particular 

* " And this I apprehend, accounts for its frequently curing the 
bite of a mad dog, especially if it be repeated for twenty-five or 
thirty days successively." 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 



Asthma 

Agues of every sort 

Atrophy 

Blindness 

Cancer 

Coagulated blood of the 

bruises 
Chin cough 
Consumption 
Convulsions 
Coughs 

Complication of distempers 
Convulsive pains 
Deafness 
Dropsy 
Epilepsy 
Violent fever 
Gout (running) 
Hectic fever 
Hysteric pains 
Incubus 
Inflammations 
Involuntary stool or urine 
Lameness 
Leprosy (old) 
Lethargy 

Water prevents the 
Apoplexies 
Asthmas 
Blindness 
Consumptions 
Deafness 
Gout 



Loss of speech, taste, ap- 
petite, smell 

Nephritic pains 

Palpitation of the heart 

Pain in the back, joints, 
stomach 

Rheumatism 

Rickets 

Rupture 

Suffocations 

Surfeits at the beginning 

Sciatica 

Scorbutic pains 

Swelling in the joints 

Stone in the kidneys 

Torpor of the limbs, even 
when the use of them is 
lost 

Tetanus 

Tympany 

Vertigo 

St. Vitus's dance 

Vigilia 

Varicose ulcers 

The whites 

growth of hereditary 
King's evil 
Melancholy 
Palsies 
Rheumatism 
Stone 



THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. #3 

Water drinking generally prevents 
Apoplexies Madness 

Asthma Palsies 

Convulsions Stone 

Gout Trembling. 

Hysteric fits 

To this children should be used from their cradles. 

We then find the following prescriptions : — 

For Asthma. — Take a pint of cold water every morn- 
ing, washing the head in cold water immediately after, 
and using the cold bath. 

Rickets in children. — Dip them in cold water every 
morning. 

To prevent apoplexy. — Use the cold bath and drink 
only cold water. 

Ague. — Go into a cold bath just before the cold. 

Cancer in the breast. — Use the cold bath. This has 
cured many. This cured Mrs. Bates, of Leicestershire, 
of a cancer in her breast, a consumption, a sciatica, 
and rheumatism, which she had nearly twenty years. 
N.B. Generally, where cold bathing is necessary to 
cure any disease, water drinking is so, to prevent a re- 
lapse. 

Hysteric colic. — Mrs. Watts, by using the cold bath 
two and twenty times in a month, w r as entirely cured of 
an hysteric colic, fits, and convulsive motions, continual 
sweatings and vomitings, wandering pains in her limbs 
and head, and total loss of appetite. 

To prevent the ill effects of cold. — The moment a 
person gets into a house, with his hands and feet quite 
chilled, let him put them into a vessel of water, as cold 
as can be got, and hold them there until they begin to 



£4 THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

glow, this they will do in a minute or two. This me- 
thod likewise effectually prevents chilblains. 

Consumption. — Cold bathing has cured many deep 
consumptions. 

Convulsions. — Use the cold bath. 
Mr. Wesley, in this valuable little work, prescribes 
for almost every complaint; and the reader of it will 
be struck with the great similarity of his treatment 
with that which is recommended in Hydropathy; for 
in the majority of cases, he recommends the use of 
that element which we are so strongly contending for, 
namely, cold water. 



CHAPTER V. 

DRUGS. 

Thus with our hellish drugs, Death's ceaseless fountains 
In these bright vales, o'er these green mountains 

Worse than the very plague we raged : 
I have myself to thousands poison given, 
And hear their murderer praised as blest by Heaven 

Because with Nature strife he waged. 

Goethe's Faust. 

Custom has such a wonderful influence over the ma- 
jority of people, that it is with difficulty they can be 
aroused into any inquiry calculated to derange the ex- 
isting state of things. All change, however beneficial, 
is attended with trouble, and they, therefore, prefer to 
adopt the motto that " Whatever is, is right." This 
very motto is the key to our method of cure — as it is to 
that of every other great moral truth. Yet, to quote 
the words of Rausse, " We do not take this in the sense 
the philosophy of our days, or in the sense of the Ger- 
man philosopher Hegel, for then we must consider false- 
hood and assassination to be good. Rather would we 
take these words in the sense in which they were first 
proclaimed by the philosopher of Geneva, in the sense 
in which the first citizen used them for the foundation 
of his truths : thus, that which is produced by nature is 
good, all inclinations, all impulses of men derived from 



86 



DRUGS. 



nature, are good ; and every misusage of nature is an 
outrage which nature punishes with misery and pain. 
All the great principles of the art of curing at Graefen- 
berg, attested as they are by thousands, were dictated 
by the instinct which nature has given to every human 
being as his inheritance." 

But are not all the cures performed by simple cold 
water, all the results of Graefenberg, all the doctrines 
of the different writers on Hydropathy, opposed to sci- 
ence ? We answer in a certain point of view, Yes ; and 
cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that nature refuses all 
respect for what is now denominated learning, nay, 
tramples upon revealed sciences, particularly on that of 
medicine. By what delusions were mankind, in the first 
instance, persuaded to submit to the use of poisonous 
drugs ? In the middle ages, the use of water as a drink, 
and a cure for disease, fell into total disuse, when, in 
the time of the Crusades, the Arab doctors introduced 
the use of Oriental drugs, to which they attributed mi- 
raculous virtues ; and during the period of astrology and 
alchymy, and when such assiduous researches were made 
for the philosophers' stone, almost every nation boasted 
of having found some panacea, some elixir vitae ; some- 
times it was an oil or a herb, at others, a powder or 
mineral, until, in process of time, these accumulated in 
such numbers, that the administration of them formed a 
science. But, we would inquire, are the effects of these 
compounds such as to lead us to conclude, that they 
were recommended by nature ? Have mankind become 
healthier since their introduction ? No, quite the con- 
trary. Are those nations who have done most homage 
to this science, the strongest and soundest ? No ; for 
they are beyond contradiction, physically, if not morally, 



DRUGS. 87 

the most miserable of all. Again, we would ask, are 
those individuals amongst them who do most to aid the 
apothecaries healthier than the others ? or, are those 
who constantly consult doctors free from pain ? We 
have the same answer, No ! their lives are worse than 
death. But if we did not know to the contrary, we 
should certainly conclude that doctors are healthy. This 
may fairly be expected from future water doctors, other- 
wise, like the rest, the) 7 would manifest their incompe- 
tency in their own persons. No one seems to reflect that 
at least a doctor ought to be able to cure himself. We 
are so accustomed to illness and wretchedness, that we 
consider it a necessary part of this life, and are the less 
disposed to complain, since the masters of physic suffer 
very seriously from its effects themselves. 

Some writers suppose mankind have arrived at an age 
of decrepitude ; but in this they err, from its not occur- 
ring to them that the lamentable state of public health 
arises from art and not nature. If you wish to be con- 
vinced of this, go to the forests of savages. There you 
will see that the present man of nature is as young 
and strong as the first who was created; the genera- 
tion cannot grow old except by art, poison, or vice. 
Prescribe simple spring water, and it is rejected with 
scorn, but let any quack recommend his drugs, how- 
ever poisonous, and they are swallowed and paid for 
on the instant. One would suppose that it must have 
been the Enemy of all Good only, that could have 
first persuaded mankind that poison could produce 
health. 

The evils that arise from pernicious drugs, which have 
swept away millions, and which will destroy the whole 
species if no reform take place, originate in misunder- 



gg DRUGS. 

standing the first or acute disease, which is but an at- 
tempt of nature to heal. Men took the symptoms of 
fever for the disease itself, and being relieved by bleed- 
ing, blistering, and drugs, they praised the unlucky dis- 
covery. From this cause a host of deadly diseases took 
their origin, such as destructions and suppurations of 
the inner organs, dropsy, &c, diseases which were hardly 
known in times of yore, and which would never have 
reared their heads but for the poisonous effect of drugs 
and the general distaste for water, the only element pre- 
scribed by nature. However, as the lamentable conse- 
quences do not appear until, perhaps, years after the 
suppression of the acute conflict have elapsed, no one 
thinks of accusing drugs as the cause. This is the 
most dreadful malady of mankind, the poison-plague dug- 
out by themselves spontaneously from the black abysses 
of the earth; thus has it been cherished and stared at as 
the effects of deep science for centuries ; thus has fre- 
quently the last shilling been offered up at its altar. 
For this, the greatest enemy that could have beset man- 
kind, as many millions have been spent as would pay off 
the National Debt: to the study of these dangerous 
errors, have millions of men applied the whole of their 
lives and their ability : backed by science, they contend 
against nature ; but how does Nature punish those who 
wish to master her ? Oh, great, unspeakable Nature ! 
how dreadfully beautiful art thou, in thy inexorable and 
destroying severity ! 

Mankind may still turn back, and regenerate health, 
fortune, and youth ; but it is not sufficient for them to 
renounce physic: — They must abandon wine, spirits, 
and poison in every shape. The following are some of 
Mr. Priessnitz's chief theories : — 



DRUGS. 89 

I. Health is the natural state of the body. 

II. The causes of bodily disease, which do not pro- 
ceed from external injury, are material, and consist of 
foreign matter introduced into the infected system. 

III. This foreign matter is divided into four parts : — 

1. Bodily substances which ought to be carried off, 
but have not been evaporated in proper time. 

2. Substances which, according to their nature, cannot 
be assimilated with the human body, and, notwithstand- 
ing, have got into the stomach, or the skin, or have 
penetrated into the interior. 

3. Contagious ulcers. 

4. Corruption of the elements, water and air ; epide- 
mical diseases. 

IV. Every acute disease is an attempt of the system 
to dispel diseased matter. 

V. Fever is not the disease itself, but the consequence 
of it; it is an effect of an exertion greater than the 
power of the system. 

YI. The radical healing of acute diseases is only pos- 
sible by separating the diseased matter by means of 
water, an agent which invariably effects its object, and 
that always in a manner perceptible to the senses. 

VII. By means of physic and bleeding acute diseases 
become chronic ; the system, medically treated, seldom 
attains a partial, never a total ejection of diseased 
matter ; therefore, physicians never get a sensitive per- 
ception of the causes of disease. 

VIII. As sooner or later a body must yield to the 
effects of drugs, it is quite impossible that any one suf- 
fering from chronic disease, should die a natural death, 
unless he be healed by Hydropathy. 

IX. Chronic disease cannot be permanently cured by 



90 



DRUGS. 



drugs : Hydropathy alone will effect this, by changing 
the chronic evil to acute eruptions, which are cured in 
the same way in which first acute diseases are cured, 
viz., by the water treatment. 

X. Mankind, like other organic beings, ought to live 
according to nature's laws, without pain, and die a natu- 
ral death, that is to say, without illness or suffering. But 
with us almost every body dies from the effects of poi- 
sonous drugs, intoxicating liquors, adulterated food, 
want of water, air, and exercise. To this rule there are 
but two exceptions. First, if the elements, air or water, 
or both, be deteriorated, the two principal requisites of 
health disappear, and epidemics are the inevitable con- 
sequence, to which men as well as animals are exposed. 
Secondly, men are exposed to contagious diseases, but, 
except from epidemics and contagious disease, no one 
who has grown up in a natural water regime can be 
attacked by illness, (outer hurts or hereditary complaints 
excepted,) and of these two diseases he can be generally 
speedily cured, and after the cure will always retain his 
health. 

XI. To think of curing disease with the poison com- 
monly called physic, must, to the reflective mind, appear 
paradoxical, because it is impossible to bring the physic 
to bear upon the dispersed and deeply-hidden diseased 
matter ; and even if this could be done, it is quite impos- 
sible, as every chemist knows, that the morbid matter and 
physic should mutually dissolve each other into nothing. 
The consequence of such treatment with physic is, that 
to the old evil, a new stimulus is added, weak or strong, 
according to the dose and quality. — " What is inflam- 
mable stays in the blood, and afterwards affects the 
brain." — Arbuthnot. 






DRUGS. 91 

XII. No effective cure, whether of men, animals, or 
plants, can be made from the ejection of the diseased 
matter by means of their own organic strength, unless 
aided by the dissolving elements, air and water. 

XIII. This is the treatment which nature bestows 
upon all her creatures, and it may be asserted without 
fear of contradiction, that without internal and external 
water diet, there can be no health for life. We must 
not look before us into the grey mysteries and doctrines 
of the future, for the true mode of curing disease, but 
far behind us, on the green plains of nature, and of the 
times which are past. 



\ 



A 





CHAPTER VI. 



THE CRISIS. 



The crisis is a period in the treatment when nature is 
about to resume her power over the disease, when the 
latter has been attacked, and is struggling to escape. It 
may be compared to a tiger which a man is tempting in 
its lair. For a short or long time, depending upon the 
caprice of the animal, it lies dormant, only occasionally 
giving signs of existence, when suddenly it rouses, and 
a violent struggle ensues. The man, however, proves 
the stronger of the two, and the animal retires worsted 
in the rencounter. In all future attacks, too, which are 
even less vigorous than the first, the tiger is defeated, until 
it finally quits its lair and flies from its human conqueror. 
Thus, at least, are old chronic diseases eradicated : in 
acute cases the first rencounter very often settles the 
affair. It is in a crisis that the giant mind, the wonder- 
ful genius of Mr. Priessnitz are made manifest. Such 
is the unbounded confidence of the patient in him, that 
every one ardently desires to pass through this ordeal, 
it being the sure road to health. It must be here ob- 
served, that though this is very often a painful period, 
the assuaging power of water, the non-necessity for 
confinement and change of diet, added to the perfect 
security which every one feels as to the result, renders 
it tolerable ; and the stranger is struck by the novelty 



THE CRISIS. 93 

of hearing people compliment one another on being 
informed that they have passed a feverish night, or that 
a rash or boils have broken out on some part of the body. 
This is, however, soon explained by the knowledge 
which they acquire at Graefenberg, that these are some 
of nature's means of resuming her wonted empire over 
the system. In and amongst the various discharges or 
evacuations which lead to the detection of disease, per- 
spiration is more remarkable by its frequency. This 
could not escape the observing genius of Priessnitz : and 
it consequently became one of the chief agents or instru- 
ments in his mode of cure. "If we consider," says he, 
" the quietude of the circulating and respiratory organs 
when not stimulated by drugs, or agitated by any violent 
movement of the body or mind, we can easily conceive 
that cold water drank during a perspiration caused by 
the concentration of the natural heat of the body by 
blankets or other coverings which are brought in imme- 
diate contact with the skin, far from deteriorating the 
constitution, must greatly refresh and relieve it." 

This is a fact which all invalids who have tried the expe- 
rimeut readily admit. An officer in the Prussian army, au- 
thor of the most concise and best written work on the cold 
water cure, told the author that six years ago he was radi- 
cally cured at Graefenberg, of a complication of diseases, 
to the astonishment of all the medical men whom he had 
previously consulted : that he had the so-called crisis 
there : the first crisis was painful and distressing in the 
extreme, rheumatism returned to each part where he had 
previously felt it ; his foot, which several years before 
had suffered from having been trod upon by a horse, 
was exceedingly painful, his hands and feet became 



94 



THE CRISIS. 



double their ordinary size, and any one might have 
tracked his path to the bath by the discharge from the 
latter. This lasted for about ten days. Afterwards he 
had two other attacks, each inferior in intensity to the 
preceding one. After the last he found that his hearing, 
which he had lost for two years, was perfectly restored ; 
he could walk as well as ever he did, a necessary plea- 
sure of which rheumatism had altogether deprived him, 
in fact, he was a new man, and since that period he has 
been perfectly well. This gentleman said that whilst in 
a fortress, after his cure, with his regiment, almost all 
the officers, except himself, suffered from influenza, 
which he completely escaped, from drinking cold water 
and making several ablutions a day. Not only did these 
means preserve his own health, but he had the great sa- 
tisfaction of being useful to his aged mother, through 
their medium. This lady, on awaking one morning, 
found that she was wholly deprived of the use of one 
side of her body. As she lived in the country, far from 
any physician, nothing remained but for the officer to 
exercise the knowledge he had gained at Grraefenberg, 
and in this he proceeded as follows : First he caused 
three women to rub her as hard as they could all over, 
particularly on the side afflicted, with their hands dipped 
in cold water, for half an hour ; then he had her placed 
in a wet sheet for about the same time, and from that 
immersed in a bath with the chill off the water ; here 
the women again rubbed her for fifteen minutes, she 
was then dressed, and was able to walk about and use 
her limbs as if nothing had occurred. 

The following allegorical lines, we think, might s with 
great justice, be literally applied by the individual who 



THE CRISIS. 95 

has passed through the crisis, and been restored to 
health at Graefenberg : — 

" Most blessed water ! neither tongue can tell 
The blessedness thereof, nor heart can think, 
Save only those to whom it hath been given 
To taste of that divinest gift of Heaven. 

I stopped and drank of that divinest well, 
Fresh from the rock of ages where it ran, 

It had a heavenly quality to quell 
All pain : I rose a renovated man ; 

And would not now, when that relief was known, 

For worlds the needful suffering have forgone." 

Southey. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HYDROSUDOTHERAPIA, OR SWEATING, AND THE BATH. 

This part of the treatment is disagreeable; neverthe- 
less, one soon becomes accustomed to it. The position 
which it is necessary to remain in, and the irritation 
it provokes, are at first unpleasant ; but as soon as the 
perspiration commences, a pleasing sensation or re- 
lief is felt, which is much increased by the air that 
enters from the window, which at this time may with 
impunity be thrown open. 

Amongst the evacuations which lead to the relief of 
disease, perspiration is, from its frequency, naturally 
one of the most prominent. 

The principal advantage of this new process, the in- 
vention of which is entirely due to Priessnitz, is, that it 
does not stimulate the blood like other sudorifics. The 
organs of perspiration, which vapour baths excite ex- 
tremely, are left perfectly tranquil, any slight irritation 
which the body may experience is calmed by the fresh 
air, whilst the blood is refreshed by cold water, which 
may be administered at this time ; thus all congestion 
of the blood to the chest or head is prevented. These 
advantages give to the sudorific process such efficacy, 
that it may be resorted to every day for many months, 
without ever weakening the frame : and the mere know- 
ledge of this fact at once explains the possibility of 



SWEATING. 97 

curing, with its aid, the most inveterate diseases. We 
must, however, become witnesses of its application to 
the innumerable cases in which it has borne so con- 
spicuous a part at Graefenberg, before we can form an 
idea of its real importance. This is shown especially in 
the division and attenuation of morbific humours, which 
it stimulates sufficiently to attract to the skin; whilst 
the cold bath, which follows immediately after, sustains 
the tone, augments the energies of the patient, assists 
the circulation, and, in fact, relieves all the stagnant 
humours. This process of sweating determines, in a 
positive manner, the nature of the diseases which come 
under Mr. Priessnitz's mode of treatment. All affec- 
tions caused by the bad juices are submitted to this 
process, which is conducted in the following manner : — 
The invalid is enveloped, naked, in a large coarse 
blanket, the legs extended, and the arms kept close to 
the body ; the blanket is then wound round it, as tight 
as possible, turning it well under at the feet : over this 
is placed, and well tucked in, a small feather bed, some- 
times two, such as are usually employed in Germany, 
instead of a number of blankets ; finally, a counterpane 
and a sheet are spread over all : thus hermetically enve- 
loped, the patient exactly resembles a mummy : some- 
times, when perspiration is difficult, the head, with the 
exception of the face, is also covered : but this expe- 
dient is not resorted to in the case of persons who have 
a tendency of blood to the head. The irritation caused 
by the blanket, and the closeness and duration of the 
confinement, render this operation disagreeable, espe- 
cially, as I have already observed, until perspiration 
commences, which, in some cases, takes place in half an 
hour, in others in an hour, or even only two hours. 



SWEATING. 



After this, the patient sweats according to the orders of 
Mr. Priessnitz, for from half an hour to two hours. 
Previous to this packing up the patient, a urinal is 
placed between his legs, and any diseased part is band- 
aged with a damp cloth. When accustomed to this 
operation, the patient will be able to sleep, until awak- 
ened by his attendant ; those who perspire with diffi- 
culty, are requested to move their legs, rub the body 
with their hands, and make all the movement that their 
close confinement will admit of. This little movement 
accelerates perspiration, which is always more tardy in 
summer than in winter : but, it should be observed, that 
if perspiration can be easily promoted without any ex- 
ertion whatever, it is much more desirable. 

As soon as perspiration commences, the windows are 
opened, and the patient, if he wishes it, is allowed to 
drink a glass of cold water every half hour ; this is not 
only found extremely refreshing, but aids the sweating. 

If, during the process of perspiration, the patient 
should experience any head-ache, he may bandage the 
head with a damp cloth, an expedient which almost in- 
variably succeeds in attaining its object. The duration 
of the sweating depends much upon the nature of the 
disease, the individual, &c. ; in deciding this, Mr. Priess- 
nitz shows his great skill : there are some who sweat 
every day, others every other day, or every second or 
third day only. 

One would imagine that so much and such constant 
sweating must have the effect of weakening patients 
and making them thin ; but at Graefenberg the contrary 
effect is observed, where there are many who, although 
they were subjected to the loss of several pounds a day 
in perspiration for upwards of twelve months, have yet 



SWEATING. 99 

preserved their original weight and strength ; in fact, 
the latter was much improved, as well as their personal 
appearance. To facilitate the drinking of water when in 
this state a small glass pipe is used, one end of which is 
put into the mouth and the other into the glass. 

When the patient has sweated long enough, which in 
ordinary cases is determined by the perspiration break- 
ing out on the face, the attendant takes off the different 
coverings until he comes to the blanket in which the in- 
valid is to proceed to the bath ; but previous to so doing, 
he is furnished with a pair of straw shoes, and the at- 
tendant (baddiener) damps the face, and that part of the 
legs and feet about to be exposed to the air, with a 
wet cloth. After the blanket is well arranged round 
the body and drawn over the head, the patient proceeds 
to the bath, which is either in an adjoining room or 
down stairs ; here he throws aside the upper part of the 
blanket, and washes the top of his head, his face, neck, 
and chest, and then enters the bath, where he remains 
from two to eight minutes, according to Mr. Priessnitz's 
instructions, whose mode of practice is diametrically 
opposed to the theory which forbids a body heated and 
covered with perspiration to be exposed to cold. Notwith- 
standing this, the two theories are equally well founded. 
The doctors are right in guarding against the influence 
of cold, when the body is heated by movement, or 
stimulated by sudorifics, for in this case death might 
be the consequence of such imprudence. At Graefen- 
berg the organs of circulation and respiration receive no 
impulse, either from movement or from remedial mea- 
sures ; but, on the contrary, they are in a perfect state 
of repose ; besides which, it is not with a dry cold, that 
is to say, with the cold air, that the skin is brought into 



IQO SWEATING. 

contact, but it is the action of cold water upon the body, 
in a state of perspiration, which irritates the skin in a 
manner not to be expected from the air to which we are 
constantly exposed. This sort of irritation determines 
the reaction or the produce of heat, which is not de- 
veloped from a dry cold. To what other cause can be 
attributed that fine red colour of the skin which all per- 
sons who have force to produce a reaction, exhibit after 
each bath ? 

This redness, which succeeds the douche as well as the 
bath, is for the doctor, as well as the invalid, a perfect 
touchstone. It gives to the first the assurance of his 
patient having strength to contend with the disease, and 
to the other a well-founded hope of being cured ; for 
from the activity of the skin after the bath, an idea is 
formed of the more speedy or more remote chance of 
success. 

The sweating which precedes the bath not only makes 
a powerful impression upon, and attracts the morbid hu- 
mours to the skin, but it contributes again to engender 
a more intense heat in the system ; this heat is of im- 
portance even in the bath, as it enables the body to 
support, for a longer time, the effect of cold water, which 
assists the more the longer it is continued. It is to 
be observed, that the longer the exterior cold and the 
reaction are kept up, the more the morbid humours are 
pressed to the skin, but the surplus of the internal heat 
ought not to be exceeded, for fear of producing congela- 
tion. Spontaneous nocturnal perspirations, which are 
called at Graefenberg weakening sweats, ought to be 
avoided ; this is to be done by covering the body very 
lightly, and by washing it at night with cold water. It 
is sometimes necessary when the skin is attacked by 



SWEATING. 101 

atony, to envelope the invalid in a wet sheet, in order to 
give it a tone before he is covered rip for sweating. It 
must here be observed, that sweating is not administered 
to one-half of the patients who resort to Graefenberg ; 
all depends upon what Mr. Priessnitz thinks of their 
strength. Many persons who have commenced the water 
cure in other establishments in Germany, have been very 
much injured in their health by the injudicious use of 
this process, an evil which, owing to the superior skill 
and extraordinary powers of discrimination of Mr. 
Priessnitz, is never to be feared at Graefenberg. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ABLUTIONS. 



Cold tvet bandages. — Use of Cold Water for Drinking 
and Injections. 

In cases of extremely weak persons, washing all over 
is substituted for the bath or douche, and water is 
poured on the heads of those subject to feverish irri- 
tation, which descends and wets the whole body, whilst 
it is rubbed with the hands first all over, and then 
partially upon those parts affected. 

When the weakness of the invalid does not admit of 
this rubbing, a wet sheet is applied, not so well wrung 
out as usual, upon which it is easier to use the pre- 
scribed friction. This latter process is to be preferred 
to the bath, when any doubt exists as to the patient 
not being able to support the immersion in the water. 
It is particularly beneficial to children. 

We cannot recommend the ablutions too much, to 
persons who are desirous of treating themselves : they 
are recommended principally on rising in the morning, 
and at night, before going to bed. In trifling com- 
plaints, gout in its infancy, nervous irritability, or in 
weakness of the skin, these ablutions, accompanied by 
drinking abundantly of cold water, are very often suffi- 



COLD WET SHEETS AND BANDAGES. \Qg 

cient to establish health. These ablutions should be 
performed in the morning, in preference to the evening, 
immediately on getting out of bed, before the body has 
become chilled, and the patient must afterwards take 
exercise in the open air. In order to use the wet sheet 
as an ablution, the person affected stands up in the room, 
when a servant throws it over his head and body ; the 
latter should be well rubbed outside the sheet for five 
minutes, and then the wet sheet should be succeeded 
by a dry one. Let any fatigued person try this, and 
he will at once perceive its great utility. 



Applications of Cold Wet Sheets and Bandages. {The 
Sheets are called Leintuchs, and the Bandages Um~ 
schlags.) 

These cold applications fulfil two objects diametri- 
cally opposed to one another, i. e. the first to calm, and 
the second to stimulate. The bandages which refresh 
are used in cases of inflammation, congestions of the 
blood, head-aches, &c. ; to these are always added the 
sitting (sitz) baths. For this purpose, linen, after being 
wetted in cold water, is doubled several times, and then 
placed upon the parts affected, where it ought to remain 
until it begins to get hot, and then renewed, until a ces- 
sation of the cause for which it is supplied ensues. 

The sitz baths ought always to accompany these band- 
ages, as they prevent the increase of heat to the head, 
and are most efficacious in allaying inflammations which 
attend fractures or other wounds. 

The stimulating bandages are highly important ; they 
differ in some respects from the first. A piece of linen 



]Q4< COLD WET SHEETS AND BANDAGES. 

or part of a towel, after being dipped in cold water, 
should be well wrung out, and then so hermetically 
applied to the afflicted part, that the external air cannot 
penetrate. This is effected by another bandage, per- 
fectly dry, being placed over the original bandage or 
damp one : by which means all the humidity is re- 
tained, or thrown upon the system. This produces heat, 
which cannot be procured by any other means. This 
humid heat has a stimulating and dissolving property, 
it provokes perspiration, by which a quantity of vitiated 
humours are extracted, as is demonstrated at Graefen- 
berg by the bandages and the water that they are 
washed in. Prince who, twelve months previ- 
ous to going there, had rubbed into his leg a light green 
ointment for about a fortnight, found that the whole of 
it came out of the flesh, by means of these bandages. 
They are renewed when they get dry, excepting at night, 
when they are allowed to remain. These cold bandages 
are applied to various parts of the body, and are so 
important, that every person under the treatment is 
conversant with their use. They are applied in an 
infinity of ways. Those afflicted with complaints of the 
chest and throat, wear one round the neck and on the 
breast, at night; those with weak or inflamed eyes, wear 
one at the back of the head and neck, at night ; those 
who have weak digestions, and are otherwise debi- 
litated, wear one round the waist all day — whilst 
gouty and rheumatic subjects, have their feet and legs 
encased in them, by night. The umschlag, which 
this bandage is called, is invariably applied to all 
wounds, bruises, and generally to diseased parts, as 
also to any part of the body where pain is felt. Its 
assuaging power is almost incredible. The bandage for 



COLD FOMENTATIONS. 105 

the waist, consists of a towel about three yards long, and 
from half a foot to one foot wide ; two-thirds of which are 
wetted, and one-third left dry. The wet part is wound 
round the belly, and the dry part covers it. Strings are 
attached, to the dry end, so that it may be tied. The 
property of this fomentation is to increase the heat of 
the stomach, and thereby assist digestion; from which 
results the formation of better juices ; it cures intestine 
congestion, constipation, relaxation, and appeases the 
cholic and gripes. 

There is no local chronic disease which does not 
require the application of these fomentations ; amongst 
which may be more especially enumerated, gout, rheu- 
matism, the enlarging of the bones, the arthritic concre- 
tions, abscesses, (with or without ulcers,) and chronic 
inflammations. Exterior injuries, and purulent effects 
of the cure, are treated in the same manner ; as are also, 
cancers, caries, and syphilic ulcers. They calm the pain 
and aid the cure much better than ointments and plast- 
ers. These bandages not only protect the parts afflicted 
from contact with the air, but they promote the exuding 
of bad humours ; by which the linen is much more 
easily impregnated, than with ointment and plasters. Let 
partizans of the latter remedies go to Graefenberg, and 
they will be convinced of the sovereign efficacy of these 
fomentations. It is in vain that we seek to cure malig- 
nant ulcers, that are retained in the system by impure 
blood, with ointments. The faculty know that such 
remedies seldom succeed in purifying the blood suf- 
ficiently to effect a cure. 

At Graefenberg, this cleansing is effected without 
trouble : ulcers being an open emunctory for discharging 
the injurious humours, under the influence of the gene- 

G 



|06 COLD FOMENTATIONS. 

ral cure, and especially of fomentations ; all the humours 
are evacuated by the ordinary channels, which nature 
chooses for this purpose. In defect of pre-existing 
ulcers, the treatment seldom fails to produce abscesses, 
which serve as issues to the vitiated juices. 

Need I again state what is properly the practice in 
the treatment of fevers, and diseases of the skin, such 
as ringworms, small-pox, measles, and scarlet-fever ? — 
One is not surprised at a little fear being manifested on 
learning, that these invalids are enveloped in a wet sheet ; 
nothing is more true, however, than that this fomentation 
tranquillizes the patient, facilitates the eruptions, and 
provokes, in cases of fever, a most beneficial perspira- 
tion. To carry this process into execution, a blanket is 
spread upon a bed, and upon that a wet sheet, the latter 
being previously well rung out. In this the invalid is 
hermetically enveloped, with the exception of' the face. 
The blanket is closely wound round the body, which 
is already encased in the sheet. Many other blan- 
kets should be added, well tucked in, so as to produce 
immediate heat. To check a fever the sheet should be 
changed every half-hour. At Graefenberg, in desperate 
cases, we have known this done fifty times in twenty- 
four hours ; when persevered in it never fails of success. 
When the fever is abated the patient reposes a little in 
the last sheet to promote perspiration, then he is placed 
in the half bath, not quite lukewarm, but still with the 
extreme chill taken off, (about 60 degrees of Fahren- 
heit,) for fifteen minutes, during the whole of which 
time he must be rubbed by two persons : and the water 
ladled out of the bath occasionally poured over the head 
and shoulders. When fever commences by cold shiver- 
ings, the bath is persevered in even for hours, until a 



COLD FOMENTATIONS. 107 

general heat is infused into the body. When there is a 
difficulty in obtaining a bath, a sheet perfectly wet, that 
is not wrung out, should be thrown over the patient, and 
that should be well rubbed against the body for five 
minutes. It is only on their first application that these 
sheets and bandages are disagreeable, as they become 
warm almost immediately. I would here ask, what 
medical treatment is pleasant? Are drugs, blisters, or 
leeches so ? Are they sure of producing the wished-for 
results ? If the last question were put as respects Priess- 
nitz's mode of treatment, I should answer, yes. For, in 
cases of fever, however intense, whatever their nature, 
he never was known to lose a patient. Experience 
proves that cold water applied to any part of the body 
disengages and relieves the skin, and causes the reaction 
of the whole system, which it excites from 45 to 50 
degrees of heat above the usual temperature of the body. 
Part of the water is imbibed by the afflicted organ ; 
which, with the heat thus produced, dissolves the mor- 
bid remains, and aids also their evacuation by the pores 
of the skin. This is daily proved at Graefenberg by 
the disagreeable smell and colour of the bandages, which 
partake of each particular case. 

To those who have never been at Graefenberg, or any 
other Hydropathic establishment, the application of wet 
linen will doubtless appear fraught with danger ; but so 
little is this the case, that their application is the first 
step taken by Mr. Priessnitz with aged people, with in- 
fants, and with those of weak, nervous, or extremely de- 
licate constitutions, in order to harden the skin and pre- 
pare them for the bath, and to strengthen them generally 
previous to any other application of the cure. So far 
from persons subjecting themselves to the risk of catch- 

g2 



108 



DRINKING AND INJECTIONS. 



ing cold by wearing these bandages at night, we find at 
Graefenberg numbers of the greatest invalids almost 
encased in them nightly. Let any one in pain, or who 
has a sore throat, try them, and he will soon be a con- 
vert to our opinion. Such are the soothing effects of 
lying half an hour in a wet sheet, and then entering a 
bath, that we do not hesitate saying, any one who con- 
templated suicide would be diverted from his intention 
after having tried the experiment. Weakly patients 
are subjected to this treatment very often twice a day, 
and it is a means, when children are restless and cannot 
sleep, of administering immediate relief to them. 

I would again explain (because this is a part of the 
treatment that may be used by any one and any where) 
that the umschlag or bandage consists, first, of a piece 
of linen once or twice doubled, dipped in cold water, 
never in any other, and well wrung out ; over this must 
be placed another piece of linen, sufficiently large to con- 
ceal the former. These are worn together, sometimes on 
one, at other times on several members of the body 
at the same time, and generally at night, though where 
there is pain they may be worn also by day. Such are 
the extraordinary results of these cold linen applications, 
that if they were the only discovery made by Priessnitz, 
it would be sufficient to render his name immortal. 

Use of Cold Water for Drinking and Injections. 

" Water is the chief ingredient in the animal fluids and solids ; 
for a dry bone distilled, affords a great quantity of insipid water ; 
therefore, water seems to be the proper drink for every animal." 

Arbuthnot on Aliments. 

Priessnitz whilst under the treatment prescribes only 
as much water as the stomach can support without in- 



DRINKING AND INJECTIONS. JQ9 

convenience; less than twelve glasses a-day would not be 
sufficient, and from that number up to twenty or thirty 
may be drank. It will soon be easy for persons who pro- 
ceed gradually to accustom themselves to the drinking 
of water. In the beginning of the cure, the want of 
thirst appears to be the great obstacle ; but it is not long 
before the desire is felt for drinking. This is perfectly 
natural ; for so great a quantity of juices cannot be lost 
by perspiration, without nature feeling the necessity of 
replacing them. A great deal of exercise, causing perspi- 
ration, also produces thirst. Most of the processes of the 
cure are stimulants, and produce greater heat, which 
heat becomes another source of thirst. Priessnitz attri- 
butes much of this thirst to the presence of bad juices. 
His opinion is founded on the remark, that thirst gene- 
rally ceases after their evacuation. Some persons on 
first drinking water feel sick, or even are sick, or else 
have diarrhoea; these symptoms only prove that the 
stomach contains remains of diseases, which the water 
has disturbed. Instead of discontinuing it, it is requi- 
site to drink more, the patient is then certain of getting 
rid of these inconveniences, as will be proved by the 
augmentation of appetite which soon follows. 

When the stomach is in pain, from being overcharged, 
Priessnitz prescribes the drinking of cold water until 
sickness or diarrhoea is the consequence ; and the pa- 
tient need not abstain, but continue it till both symp- 
toms have disappeared. This manner of proceeding is 
far preferable to the severe diet which is generally im- 
posed when the stomach is overcharged. Priessnitz's 
method cleanses it of all impurities, which, with absti- 
nence, pass into the blood. We know that vomiting also 
produces this effect; but this is a remedy that weakens 



] 10 DRINKING AND INJECTIONS. 

the stomach. Whilst water, on the other hand, has 
precisely the contrary effect. 

Cold water, as a beverage, is particularly useful ; it 
fortifies the stomach and intestines, by clearing them of 
the bad juices they contain: it favours the generation 
of new juices; it mixes with the blood by absorption; 
it spreads itself quickly through all the organs ; it atte- 
nuates, purifies, and dissolves the sharp or thick hu- 
mours, and discharges them by means of perspiration 
and urine. Considered as a means of diet for slight 
indispositions, bad digestions, and generally in all cases 
of disease for which the faculty recommend aperients 
or mineral waters, it cannot be too highly appreciated. 
On getting up in the morning, after a cold ablution, 
take a good deal of exercise, and whilst doing so, drink 
plentifully of water. It will have the same effect as a 
purgative or mineral waters, without, like the latter, 
weakening the digestive organs. Ail persons may drink 
cold water without the slightest risk or danger, and to 
those who, at a later period, intend proceeding to some 
Hydropathic establishment, the habit of doing so is 
strongly recommended, as it will facilitate their cure. 

All times of the day are favourable to the internal use 
of water. Priessnitz, with respect to this, has no other 
rule than allowing people to drink any quantity of water 
they like, so that they are not inconvenienced by it; 
except that he thinks water and exercise, taken before 
breakfast, produce the best effects. It is above all after 
sweating that drinking cold water produces an expecto- 
ration of the glaires. Water may be drank after break- 
fast, but not so as to overcharge the stomach. During 
dinner the aliments should be moistened by some glasses 
of water, then the stomach must be left to repose ; 



DRINKING AND INJECTIONS, \\l 

some hours afterwards again water may be drank until 
supper time. Drinking after supper is no less useful ; 
but it may break the rest, by causing the invalid to rise 
often in the night. We must not forget that exercise, 
which is to a certain degree indispensable, stimulates 
the action of the water, and accelerates the cure. Water, 
to produce the desired effect, ought always to be drawn 
fresh from the spring, and as cold as possible. The de- 
canters which contain it ought to have stoppers, as the 
water in them will then remain longer cold and fresh. 

Under the denomination of injections, we understand 
principally clysters, which the patient applies himself. 
When he is not in the habit of using them with cold 
water, they must not be applied at first for longer than 
two minutes ; but by degrees the intestines become ac- 
customed to it, and they, the clysters, are often absorbed 
like a glass of water introduced into the stomach. A se- 
cond injection is repeated immediately after the expulsion 
of the first. Cold injections are used for constipations 
and diarrhoea, two diseases diametrically opposite, but 
which arise from the same cause, the weakness of the 
intestines. Thus the contradiction is only in appear- 
ance, the great object of injections being to establish the 
tone of these organs, and regulate their functions; they 
ought to be aided by the use of cold water in other 
ways. 

There are also various injections in use at Graefenberg. 
I allude to those applied to other cavities of the body, 
such as the ears, nostrils, and the genitals. Particular 
syringes are used for these purposes, and are directed 
•against the mucous matter in those parts. The best 
means of preserving the teeth is to wash the mouth 
often, after eating, in the morning, and particularly in 



1 12 DRINKING AND INJECTIONS. 

the evening ; snuffing up water into the nostrils is the 
best means of curing a cold in the head. Scrofula in 
the nostrils is a disease very common in children, this 
also is treated with success by means of the same 
practice. 



CHAPTER IX, 

DROPSY. 

Many object to the drinking of cold water, on the 
ground that animals only drink to quench their thirst. 
This is true, but they do not live in our artificial state, 
nor are they subject to the influence of the mind. It 
cannot be denied that the nearer people approximate to 
nature, the less they need adhere to any prescribed 
rules ; but man resorts to water to establish his health, 
therefore the quantity must be increased, not only for 
the purpose of allaying his thirst, but to dilute, dissolve, 
purify, and restore, in quantities which must depend 
upon the inconvenience or pain experienced. By this 
simple means, serious indispositions are often prevented. 
Another argument made use of against drinking cold 
water is, that it produces dropsy. In the first place, it 
is evident, that if this were true, such a complaint ought 
not to exist amongst us, for whoever heard of an Eng- 
lishman drinking too much water? But we affirm, on 
the contrary, that this disease is caused by the injudi- 
cious administration of drugs ; the use of too large a 
quantity of them ; by omitting to drink cold water, and 
by neglecting to wash or bathe the body daily in that 
element. 

If the skin is so much relaxed that it no longer throws 
out those matters which daily reach it from the interior 



1 14, DROPSY. 

of the body, fluids are collected underneath the skin 
which ought to be evaporated, and which cause inflation, 
paleness, and cold ; this is what is called dropsy. 

The more the human body is injured by drugs, the 
more it is in need of strong perspiration, because it en- 
deavours, by the aid of this physical agent, to relieve 
itself of all diseased matter. From this it may be infer- 
red that no persons are more in need of the cold water 
cure than those who have taken too much physic. Fur- 
ther, strong poisons, of whatsoever nature they may be, 
whether mercury, blue pill, calomel, bark, or spirituous 
liquors to excess, frequently cause death by dropsy ; 
sometimes this disease is caused by catching cold, but 
only those are liable to it who have produced a disposi- 
tion to the complaint by relaxing the skin. The only 
remedy formerly known was to draw off the water by 
tapping, which operation, often repeated, gives a respite 
to life for a short time. This illness, in its infancy, may 
always be speedily cured by Hydropathy, and, in its 
most advanced stages, if there be any strength left in 
the constitution, this disease will be eradicated by the 
water cure ; it being the property of this treatment to 
revive the activity of the skin, and enable the latter to 
indulge freely in the necessary ejection of perspiration. 

From the returns of the year 1841, within the city of 
London and Bills of Mortality, amongst a people alto- 
gether opposed to the use of water, we find that from 
dropsy alone, the deaths amounted to no less a number 
than 584. Any one who never takes physic nor intoxi- 
cating liquors, and keeps to a water diet, may be per- 
fectly sure of never being attacked with dropsy. 



CHAPTER X, 

BATHS. 

Cold Water is employed externally in many ways. 
The baths are either entire or partial : the latter are 
divided into half-baths, sitz-baths, and foot-baths ; the 
most limited baths are those which are only applied to 
parts afflicted : afterwards come the application of wet 
sheets, and then the douche and washing. 

The entire or public bath at Graefenberg, is about 
thirty feet in circumference, and sufficiently deep for a 
man of the ordinary height to plunge into up to his 
neck. The water is constantly renewed by springs in 
the mountains, the waters of which are conveyed through 
pipes into the bath, and escape by an opening for that 
purpose, so that no impurities may remain ; besides 
which, the bath is emptied and cleaned twice a day: 
but this remark applies to Graefenberg only, as at 
Ereiwaldau, with but few exceptions, the houses are 
supplied with portable baths. 

We have already shown that the immersion of the 
body covered with sweat, into cold water, is exempt 
from danger, provided the organs of perspiration are in 
a state of repose. The risk which is incurred of catch- 
ing cold, if, on arriving at a river to bathe, we remain 
until the body is cold and dry, cannot possibly exist in 
this case ; as we thereby abstract from the body the 



I ] Q BATHS. 

heat which it requires to produce reaction, and thus 
lose the good effect of bathing. Then if we walk fast, 
or a long distance to the bath, it is requisite to repose a 
little in order to tranquillize the lungs, after which we 
must undress quickly and plunge head-foremost into 
the water, having first wetted the head and chest to 
prevent the blood mounting to those regions. This 
precaution is strongly enforced at Graefenberg. During 
the bath the head ought to be immersed several times 
into the water. Great care is requisite in not exposing 
the body, between throwing aside the blanket after 
sweating and entering into the bath. 

It is highly advantageous to keep in movement in the 
bath, and to rub with the hands any parts afflicted. The 
skin is thus stimulated, and the sensation of cold abated. 
People whose chests are affected must exercise modera- 
tion in the use of the bath, entering it only by degrees, 
and not staying in it too long. In general, the time 
for remaining in the bath is governed by the coldness 
of the water, and the vital heat of the bather ; but no 
general rule can be adopted with respect to this. At 
Graefenberg, where the temperature of the water is from 
43 to 50 degrees, no one stays longer in the bath than 
from six to eight minutes, many only two or three. 
Priessnitz advises his patients to avoid the second sen- 
sation of cold, which is a sort of fever, by leaving the 
bath before it is felt : by this means the patient will 
avoid a too powerful reaction, provoked by a great sub- 
traction of heat. This precaution is indispensable at the 
epoch of the treatment, marked by fevers and irruptions. 
Then a reaction, produced by an immoderate use of 
the bath or douche, would compel the invalid to keep 
his bed for some days, without at all accelerating the 



THE HALF-BATH. H7 

cure. Persons who undertake to treat themselves by 
cold water, ought to observe the rules strictly, as they 
will have no one to give them advice in case of trans- 
gression; when medicine would do more harm than good. 
There is but one thing which they can use or abuse 
with impunity, and that is drinking water. 

On leaving the bath, which is found more refreshing 
than any one can imagine who has not experienced its 
effects, you are covered with a sheet, over that a cloak 
is thrown, and thus you go to your room, where the 
whole body is dried and rubbed ; then you must dress 
quickly, and walk to keep up the warmth. To effect 
this, by the heat of stoves or beds, would be acting in 
direct opposition to the treatment. A glass or two of 
water immediately after the bath, is agreeable, and 
should not be omitted whilst walking. 

When irritation is highly excited during the cure, 
baths should be suspended, as they would augment it. 
A general washing of the body, and sitz-baths, are then 
resorted to. Sweating is also replaced by the envelop- 
ment of the body in a damp sheet, the repeating of 
which operation, together with the sitz-bath, will cause 
the irritation to cease. 

The Half-Bath. 

The half-bath is about the size of those generally 
used in our houses, and is only employed in cases in 
which the whole bath would be too much for the strength 
of the invalid, who may require to be bathed for a 
longer time, in order to excite the morbid humours. It 
is, in effect, less active than the entire bath, and being- 
attended with less danger, is frequently administered to 
new-comers, for about a week preparatory to the large 



118 



THE HALF-BATH. 



bath; the temperature of the small or half-bath is never 
lower than sixty degrees. 

The water in these half-baths is only about three to 
six inches deep. When it is necessary that the invalid 
should have the advantage of an entire bath, water is 
poured upon him, or the attendant constantly wets the 
body and head with the water of the bath. 

When these small baths are used, in order to be less ex- 
citing, the upper part of the body is sometimes covered, 
and the bath hermetically closed, so that the head only 
appears. This is in cases where it is necessary that the 
invalid should remain in them for an hour or two. We 
have known Priessnitz order this for five or six hours at 
a time, and repeat it several days successively, in order 
to provoke irritation and produce fever. Last year, a 
doctor afflicted with an atonic gout, was subjected to this 
treatment, and was completely cured. It is, indeed, a 
common thing at Graefenberg to see invalids remain for 
hours thus enclosed in the small bath, and continue doing 
the same for days, until fever is produced ; this brings 
the morbid matter to the skin in the form of abscesses, 
which sometimes discharge themselves in sufficient quan- 
tity for the matter to fill several glasses. When this 
crisis takes place, the baths are suspended during the 
discharge of these humours, by which the system is 
much benefited. 

The half-bath is frequently taken by the patient imme- 
diately after he has been confined in the wet sheet. It 
is accompanied by a general sprinkling of the body with 
cold water and rubbing. Whilst still sweating, the pa- 
tient should hasten to the bath, throw off the covering, 
previously wetting the head and chest, and the attendant 
should pour a pailful! of water upon the head, when the 



THE FOOT-BATH. 1 19 

face and the body must be well rubbed. This last part 
of the process is often continued for ten or fifteen mi- 
nutes together, sometimes much longer. When the 
patient quits the bath he dries himself, dresses, and 
proceeds to take exercise in the open air immediately ; 
but persons who have not the means of consulting a 
doctor acquainted with Priessnitz's mode of treatment, 
are not advised to attempt this. 

In almost all cases of fever the patient is first wrapped 
up hermetically in a wet sheet, which is changed as soon 
as it becomes warm, and repeated until the fever has 
subsided. As each of these sheets will become hot from 
having extracted a certain quantity of the caloric from 
the body, it necessarily follows that a chill will succeed 
the subsiding of the fever ; the patient is then placed in 
the bath and rubbed all over, by two persons, with the 
bare hand, until all the symptoms are abated. The 
patient then joins in the promenade, or at the public 
tables. If at night feverish symptoms return, the same 
operation is performed and repeated until a perfect 
cure is effected. Thus it will be seen that at Grraefen- 
berg, even patients with fevers that would endanger life 
elsewhere, are not confined to their rooms, nor is their 
diet changed. 

Foot-bath. 

The foot-bath is employed almost exclusively as a 
counteracting agent against the pains of the upper part 
of the body, Priessnitz prescribes these baths for pre- 
cisely the same purposes that the faculty order warm 
ones, yet every one knows that the feet after a warm 
bath become cold, and then the reaction is upwards, 
whilst on the contrary after a cold bath, the feet become 



120 THE FOOT-BATH. 

warm and the reaction is downwards. Headache, and 
tooth-ache, whatever may be their causes, particularly 
those that are of a violent nature, inflammation of the 
eyes, and effluxes of blood to the head, are almost 
always relieved by the means of the foot-bath. To 
this should be added the application of wet bandages, 
without dry ones over them. The tub, or basin, in 
which these foot-baths are taken, ought only to contain 
water from two to three inches deep, or just enough 
to cover the toes ; for the tooth-ache, one inch is suf- 
ficient ; and the bath may be applied for from fifteen 
minutes to half an hour. In cases of sprains, the feet 
must be put in water up to the ancles. The water, 
when it becomes lukewarm, should be changed. The 
feet, during the whole time, should be well rubbed by 
the hand, or against each other, in order to promote a 
strong reaction. Care must be taken that the feet are 
warm before they are put into water, and exercise should 
be taken immediately afterwards, to bring back the heat 
to them. Rubbing them with a dry hand assists this 
very much. Cold foot-baths are sure means of prevent- 
ing tendency to cold in the feet; the application of hot 
water only weakens the skin, and renders the feet more 
susceptible to cold. When they are extremely cold, 
instead of exposing them to the fire to warm, it is much 
better to produce the effect required, by exercise. If 
we want any proof of the reaction caused by the foot- 
bath, and its powers of preservation from catching cold, 
we have but to feel our feet an hour or two hours after the 
bath, and we shall then find them extremely hot. If we 
cannot avoid being exposed for a long time to a piercing 
cold, it is well to take a cold foot-bath two hours previ- 
ous to going out. After great fatigue, a foot-bath of 
this description, before going to bed, is most refreshing. 



HEAD-BATH. \G>\ 

Gouty subjects should not use these baths, without 
advice ; but to people in general, Mr. Priessnitz recom- 
mends their frequent use. He contends, that in the feet 
many of the most serious complaints commence. ; 

Homer, when he stated Achilles to be invulnerable, 
except in the heel, no doubt knew that the feet were 
the most important parts of the human frame. The 
poorer people, who wear neither shoes nor stockings, 
or whose feet are constantly exposed to a sort of foot- 
bath, are seldom subject to those complaints which 
attack the upper regions of the body. 

An Irish gentleman, thinking to do his shepherd a 
service, who had lived in a low marshy situation for 
many years, sent him to another estate, which was high 
and dry, and asking him how he liked it, he replied, 
" Not at all ; he had never been well a day since he had 
been there, for there was not a drop of water to wet his 
feet." 

Head-bath. 

Head-baths are used for rheumatic pains in the head, 
common head-aches, rheumatic inflammations of the 
eye, deafness, loss of smell and taste. They tend to 
disturb the morbid humours, which nature generally 
evacuates in the form of abscesses in the ears. They 
are also used to prevent the flow of blood to the head, 
but in this case only for a few minutes, in order to avoid 
too great a reaction. These should be followed by exer- 
cise in the open air, in the shade. This bath is used as 
follows : a washhand basin should be placed at the end 
of a rug upon the floor. On this rug the patient should 
extend himself, so that his head may reach the basin, at 
the bottom of which may be placed a towel for the head 

H 



122 FINGER-BATH— EYE-BATH. 

to rest upon. Then the back of the head must be placed 
in the water ; then one side, and lastly, the other side 
of the head. All this is terminated by again placing 
the back part of the head in the water. 

The duration of this bath depends upon the nature 
and extent of the disease. In chronic inflammation of 
the eye, each part of the head should remain in water 
for fifteen minutes ; and as long for deafness, loss of 
smell and taste. All this will occupy an hour, during 
which time the water should be renewed twice. 

If these baths and foot-baths are continued with per- 
severance, success is certain. This success is generally 
announced by violent head-aches, until the formation of 
an abscess takes place, which finishes by breaking. 

For the common head-ache, the back of the head may 
be exposed to the water from ten to fifteen minutes, and 
each side from five to ten minutes : if it is obsti- 
nate, a foot-bath and a sitz-bath, both slightly chilled, 
should be used for half an hour each. 

Finger-bath. 

For whitlows the finger is placed in a glass of water, 
three times a day, fifteen minutes each time, the finger 
and hand bandaged, then the elbow must be placed in 
water twice a day, and a heating bandage placed on the 
arm above it ; this will have the effect of drawing the 
inflammation from the hand. 

Eye-bath. 

"Water is held to the eye, which for a minute is kept 
closed, and then opened for five minutes in a small glass, 



LEG-BATH— DOUCHE-BATH. \2g 

made for the purpose, in circumference about the size 
of the eye. The head-bath is generally used with this 
bath, but the latter is repeated oftener, and in most 
cases where there is inflammation, a fomentation is ap- 
plied to the back of the head on going to bed, and 
another at the back of the neck during the day. For 
weak eyes the forehead is bandaged on going to bed. 
Sitz and foot-baths form part of this treatment. 

Leg-bath. 

The thighs and legs, when afflicted with ulcers, ring- 
worms, wounds, or fixed rheumatic pains, ought to be 
put into a bath so as to cover the parts afflicted. The 
object of these baths is for them to act as stimulants. 
They may be taken for an hour, and sometimes longer ; 
they always determine abscesses, and where they already 
exist, they cause an abundant suppuration. They are 
also applicable to any other members afflicted in a like 
manner. 

The Douche-bath. 

The douche, of all the means employed, is the most 
powerful in moving the bad humours, and disturbing 
them from the position which they may have occupied 
for years : they are also used in the greater number of 
chronic diseases. The douche corrects the weakness 
which the skin may have contracted in the process of 
sweating, and also fortifies it. It hardens the body, and 
renders it capable of supporting all variations in the 
atmosphere. It exercises a powerful action upon the 
muscles and nervous system, by the reaction which it 
provokes. What is understood by a douche, at Grae- 

h 2 



J 24 DOUCHE-BATH. 

fenberg, is a spring of water running out of the moun- 
tain, conveyed by pipes into small huts, where it falls 
from the top in a stream about the thickness of one's 
wrist, which fall constitutes the difference between the 
douche and a shower bath : outside this hut is another 
for dressing, constructed like the first, in the rudest way 
imaginable. 

There are six douches in the forest of Graefenberg, 
the fall of the first is fifteen feet ; the second ten feet ; 
the third twenty feet; the fourth eighteen feet. The 
douches set apart for women have a fall of twelve feet 
each : the diameter of the fall is the same as in those of 
the men. 

At the colony there is a douche which is available all 
the winter ; this is not the case with the others. About 
half a mile out of the town of Freiwaldau, there are 
four more douches, resorted to by both sexes. Nearly 
all the douches are at some distance from the places of 
residence of the patients, which occasions a walk to 
arrive at them, so that the body is in a glow, and better 
calculated to be benefited by the effect of the water, 
when submitted to the process. 

Parts afflicted should, for the greater part of the time, 
be exposed to the action of the douche, though it must 
be received occasionally upon all parts of the body, 
except on the head and face, unless this is especially 
ordered by Priessnitz. Weak chests should also avoid 
it on that part and the abdomen, otherwise the fall of 
the water on the lower part of the stomach or belly is 
not injurious. The atony of this region will not, how- 
ever, always resist these means. The relief afforded by 
the douche, sometimes in a few minutes, in arthritic 
cases and rheumatism, is almost miraculous. 



SITZ-BATH. \25 

The douche being intended to put the morbid hu- 
mours in movement, ought to be discontinued when it 
produces feverish excitement, and be commenced again 
when that has ceased. 

The duration of the douche is from three to fifteen 
minutes, and rarely extends beyond the latter. The 
time for douching is one hour after breakfast, and two 
hours after dinner. Most of the patients at Graefen- 
berg are very much pleased with this part of the treat- 
ment. 

Many complain that the common shower bath, so 
much used with us, disagrees with them : this is to be 
explained by the fact of its promoting a reaction up- 
wards, which is opposed to all the principles of Hydro- 
pathy. 

The Sitz-bath. 

For want of a better term we adhere to that of the 
Germans, and instead of a sitting, we call this a sitz- 
bath. 

This is a small flat tub, of about seventeen inches in 
diameter, with water seldom more than three or four 
inches deep ; in this people sit as in a hip bath, with 
their feet resting on the ground, for different periods ; a 
quarter of an hour, half an hour, an hour, or more, as 
may be deemed sufficient. This, in some cases, is re- 
peated two or three times a-day. The sitting bath is 
considered by Mr. Priessnitz to be of so much import- 
ance in his treatment, that those patients are considered 
quite as exceptions, for whom it is not prescribed. It has 
the effect of strengthening the nerves, of drawing the 
humours from the head, chest, and abdomen, and reliev- 



126 



SITZ-BATH. 



ing flatulency, and is of the utmost value to those who 
have led a sedentary life. 

The object of using so little water in this bath, the 
half-bath, and foot-bath, is, that a reaction may the 
sooner be effected. If a greater body of water were 
used, it would remain cold during the whole time of its 
application, and cause congestions to the upper regions ; 
whereas, in this case, it almost immediately attains 
the heat of the blood, and admits of an immediate 
reaction. 

To prevent the former, the patient should apply a 
wet bandage to the head : and to succeed more effec- 
tually in the object for which the sitz-bath is prescribed, 
he should rub the abdomen as much as possible with a 
wet hand. 



CHAPTER XI. 



ASSIMILATION. 



To attain the preservation of life, it is required not 
only that its consumption should be reduced, but that 
its restoration should be rendered more easy. For this 
purpose two things are most essentially necessary, the 
perfect assimilation of that which maybe of benefit, and 
the separation from that which may be injurious ; for 
life depends, as will be seen by the following definition, 
upon the identification, the assimilation, and the animali- 
zation of external matter, in its passage from the chemi- 
cal to the organic world by the vital power. 

The power of assimilating other substances into itself 
is the fundamental principle of nature ; this impulse and 
power is not only prevalent in all organic matter, but 
also in elemental bodies, that is to say, water, earth, and 
fire. The globe in the beginning was a rigid rock, upon 
which the air and the water effected their power of assi- 
milation. 

Assimilation is only possible by dissolving ; for the 
purpose of assimilating, air and water dissolved the 
earth's crust, by the agency of which powers that surface 
originated, which produces and nourishes all organic bo- 
dies ; as these exist in the same world in which the ele- 
ments continually exercise their power of dissolving and 
assimilating, it follows that from the beginning there 



128 



ASSIMILATION. 



must have been developed in all organic elements the 
same power, as a protection to themselves. 

Air dissolves water into vapours, in order to assimi- 
late gases from it. Water again extracts from air the 
oxygen gas. 

Fire absorbs the oxygen of air, it dissolves water into 
its two component parts, hydrogen and oxygen, and by 
converting the former to a flame, it transforms water to 
fire ; air absorbs many gases which fire releases from 
combustibles ; air draws gases from the soil, the soil 
absorbs the oxygen of the air. In this way the elements 
are in a constant conflict, each endeavouring to dissolve 
the other, and to assimilate its matters with itself. Or- 
ganic bodies draw the oxygen from the air by the pro- 
cess of respiration, which is also the property of plants ; 
these draw all assimilatory matter which the earth offers 
by their roots, and the same process is performed by 
animals feeding on plants or herbs ; whereas, on the 
contrary, fire dissolves and assimilates to itself all or- 
ganic matter. This same process is carried out by water 
and air, with all organic beings, but as long as these are 
living they only get their evaporation, and after death 
their entirety. The earth exercises this power but con- 
ditionally and partially, viz. upon all animals that exist 
in it, and on all roots of plants, upon mankind the earth 
only exercises its power of assimilation after death. The 
proofs of this conflict of assimilation amongst organic 
matter itself are very clear, one animal eats the other as 
well as plants ; that is to say, it absorbs by the agency 
of the stomach so much of their substance as may be 
assimilated ; plants again convert many parts of dead 
bodies and other plants (the manure) into their own 
substance. 



ASSIMILATION. 1£9 

Besides this power of assimilation, there exists in 
every being, element and organization, the necessity of 
being exposed to foreign assimilation. 

This is the fundamental principle of the true doctrine 
of healing. In support of this theory we find that 
water, if withdrawn from the power of dissolution by 
the fresh air, stinks and putrefies ; air loses its quantity 
of oxygen, and becomes mephitic, if it does not find 
water or plants with which it can enter into the conflict 
of dissolution and assimilation. 

Animals and plants fall ill and die if their surface is 
so covered that neither air nor water can act upon them. 
If nourishment is withdrawn from any organic being, 
that is to say, if it is deprived of the opportunity of 
assimilating with external or foreign substances, death 
is caused by the want of a supply of healthy juices ; if, 
on the contrary, this being is deprived of the influence 
or effect of this foreign power of dissolution, illness is 
the consequence, arising from the putridity of matter, 
from which putridity the system ought to have been re- 
leased by the agency of foreign assimilation. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

CLOTHING, MINERAL WATERS, ETC. 

Mr. Priessnitz requires that all his patients shall cease 
wearing flannel and cotton ; he maintains that they 
weaken the skin, render people delicate, and less able to 
contend against atmospheric changes. When some one 
objected to throwing off a flannel waistcoat that he had 
worn all his life, it being winter, and exceedingly cold, 
Mr. Priessnitz said, " Wear it, then, over your shirt ; 
but when you are accustomed to cold water you will not 
miss it. After the bath which you have now taken, run 
or walk until you provoke perspiration : you need then 
have no fear of catching cold." Many people are in the 
habit of wearing flannel waistcoats in the night ; this 
keeps up an unnatural and unnecessary degree of 
warmth, and increases invisible perspiration, which is 
unwholesome. Let us look at our gouty and rheumatic 
subjects, and we shall find that they, perhaps more than 
other people, have always been accustomed to flannel. 
Does not this show that flannel neither protects its 
wearer from those diseases, nor allays the pain attending 
them ? There are others who are in the habit of cloth- 
ing the head during the night ; this is also a practice 
strongly deprecated at Graefenberg : it destroys the hair, 
causes its premature decay, and is highly injurious to 
persons who are troubled with a flow of blood to the 



CLOTHING, MINERAL WATERS, ETC. 231 

head, head-ache, colds in the head, &c. There is great 
sense in the old adage, " Keep the head cold and the 
feet warm." No people are so much, afraid of exposing 
their heads to the weather as the English. This arises 
from their habit of sleeping in night caps, and not ac- 
customing themselves to cold ablutions. And a great 
defect is their being over clothed, so as to exclude 
the external air. Dr. Abernethy made many experi- 
ments as to the effect of the air upon the human body, 
which have been fully carried out by the late discoveries 
in Hydropathy. It is most probable that the generation 
of warmth is principally effected by the action of the 
lungs. The process of respiration is practised by the 
skin if all the pores are open and sound ; it therefore 
results that to allow the generation of a healthy warmth, 
a continual activity of the pores of the skin cannot be 
dispensed with. In proportion as the body is warmly 
clothed, and the pure air excluded from the skin, the 
less warmth is produced by the skin itself, and the body 
becomes chilly, and consequently requires warmer pro- 
tection. 

As a healthy naked body generates by heightened 
perspiration of the skin, the same warmth as is produced 
by one which is covered, by means of retaining the per- 
spiration, so every one who is quite well, might, by use, 
become so hardened, that during the coldest season, he 
might feel, when naked, as comfortable as any one co- 
vered with wool. The Scotch Highlander, with his 
naked legs, does not feel colder, surrounded by moun- 
tains of ice, than we do who are clothed. We prove 
this ourselves, by having our face bare in the coldest 
winter. As the skin performs the double function, — 
first, of breathing the air, and drawing nourishment from 



IQ2 CLOTHING, MINERAL WATERS, ETC. 

it ; and, secondly, of exhaling the phlogisticised air of the 
diseased matter, and worn-out atoms of the body; it 
follows, that the true art of curing must be to endeavour 
to restore these two functions. Hydropathy causes, by 
its manifold means of application, the ejection of diseased 
matter, and the revival of the activity of the skin ; and 
therefore, it makes the principal organ also fit for the 
second function, viz., that of inhaling the air. 

Priessnitz deprecates all exciting things, such as tea, 
coffee, wines, and spirits, and recommends cold aliments 
rather than hot. No people make a greater mistake in 
this respect than the English ; no beverage — no food 
can be too hot ; no spirits too strong for them. To judge 
of the effects, we have only to look at any channels 
through which warm water has been running for some 
time, and we see it strongly incrusted at the sides and 
bottom : if, on the contrary, we look at one where cold 
water has made its exit, we shall not find the least trace 
of the incrustation alluded to. 

If we wish to make a simple experiment of the effect 
of hot water in contracting the different parts of the 
human body with which it comes in contact, we shall find 
that a hand placed in hot water contracts for the moment 
in size ; whilst cold water has the effect of enlarging and 
increasing it. Thus, for instance, a hand just immersed in 
hot water, may easily be put into a glove which the same 
hand would not enter at all after being placed in cold 
water. If there is any truth in this theory, what shall 
we say to people who proceed in crowds to drink and 
be daily immersed in the hot and strongly adulterated 
waters of Germany ? We observed at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
where the water is hot enough to boil an egg, that the 
great desideratum appeared to be, to drink it as soon as 



CLOTHING, MINERAL WATERS, ETC. I33 

possible after it is taken from the source. The injury 
this boiling liquid may be of to the various membranes 
of the throat and lungs will become manifest to all who 
have ever studied the subject. Much might be said, if 
our limits permitted, against mineral waters in general. 
Dr. Abernethy was quite right when he said that people 
might be equally benefited by drinking common water, 
and taking the same exercise at home, without incurring 
the expense of visiting those mineral springs : for when- 
ever a trip to these baths is of benefit, it is the water, the 
exercise, the fresh air, and a life free from anxiety, and 
not the mineral properties of the spring, which produce 
the desired effect ; for though relief may be felt for the 
time, experience proves that it is only temporary. 

Waters thus impregnated with mineral poison are 
avoided by all animals. The same remark may be ap- 
plied to the conduct of savages in this respect ; but cul- 
tivated man knows better, or, rather, worse — and leaving 
his own pure, unadulterated springs behind, undertakes 
long journeys, and spends his money in search of these 
poisoned sources. And why? Because, although the 
water be revolting to the taste, he prefers taking medi- 
cine in this shape, to foregoing the use of that altogether 
which custom has led him to believe essential to his ex- 
istence. The very smell and taste of these waters are 
nature's warnings to man not to touch them, expressed 
as clearly as though a notice in legible characters had 
been affixed upon the spot to that effect. 

These sources form part of the apothecaries' category ; 
they operate medicinally ; the waters are combined with 
poisonous substances, which shorten the duration of life: 
they sometimes relieve an old evil by engendering a new 
one : they seldom or never effect a radical euro, but often 



J34 CLOTHING, MINERAL WATERS, ETC. 

produce death ; a fact, of which the churchyards of the 
leading spas, particularly the hot-springs of Germany, 
give but too many lamentable proofs. 

All mineral waters are more or less disagreeable to 
the taste ; and I am of opinion that instinct and taste 
are nature's best monitors to mankind and animals. 
Even if these waters be not always absolutely injurious, 
it is certain that they have not the healing properties of 
pure cold spring water. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

DIET, AS SET FORTH BY MUNDE. 

I have already named the food, drinks, and season- 
ings which Priessnitz excludes from the invalid's diet ; 
their heating qualities must, in fact, be prejudicial to 
bodies which are kept in a continual state of excitement 
by the treatment. The greatest part of the food given 
is served cold, Priessnitz being convinced that hot things 
weaken the digestive organs, he even forbids soup to 
those who have bad digestions. 

The only thing patients drink during dinner is cold 
water. I cannot see on what grounds some would pro- 
hibit it w T hilst eating, when no one suffers from its use, 
and nature seems to desire it. 

If you wish to be assured that cold food and water 
are never hurtful, go to Graefenberg, and you will see 
all the inhabitants satisfy their thirst with pure cold 
water, without any accidents ever resulting from the 
practice. The society will be found more cheerful than 
elsewhere ; the invalids have marvellous digestions, and 
are never sleepy after dinner. The custom of drinking 
a great deal of cold water whilst eating, is very good 
for persons subject to congestions of blood to the head. 

Is it better to sleep or walk after dinner ? This ques- 
tion is yet undetermined. Priessnitz recommends a 
little movement in the shade during the great heat; 



136 DIET - 

and the well-being of those who follow his advice seems 
to corroborate the justice of his opinion. 

Indian spices, such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and 
others of the same kind, are injurious even to those en- 
joying good health, on account of their stimulating pro- 
perties ; they are therefore prohibited during the cure. 
Nature gave them to the Indians because their burning 
sky enervates the body, which then requires stimulants. 
In our climate, on the contrary, the air is more com- 
pressed, and, consequently, contains more oxygen, which 
predisposes us to take inflammatory diseases ; stimulants, 
therefore, only augment this predisposition. Let us use, 
says Priessnitz, seasonings which nature has given us, 
and leave to foreigners theirs ! Nature has provided for 
all wants ; and our eatables, subjected to the same influ- 
ences as ourselves, ought, were it only on that account, 
to agree with us better. 

The dishes generally served at Priessnitz's table are 
meat, soup, boulli, with horse-radish, or some other 
sauce, veal, mutton, pork, venison, ducks, and fowls 
with plum sauce and potatoes ; all kinds of pastry, and 
some vegetables, but in less quantity than meats ; fish 
and game are rarely seen ; bread, milk, and butter, com- 
pose both breakfast and supper. If you wish for white 
bread it must be bought extra. Nowhere is the milk 
and butter of a better quality. In winter, potatoes are 
added to the supper, but are seldom eaten — they inter- 
rupt digestion and sleep. If any excess is ever com- 
mitted at Graefenberg, it is in the eating. I warn 
without wishing to inspire fear on the subject— I address 
myself particularly to hypochondriacs, who often eat too 
little one day, and a great deal too much another day ; 
they would do well to drink a great deal of water whilst 



DIET. 



137 



eating, — the place it occupies leaves less for food. As 
salt fish, salt meat, &c, cause much acrimony, they, as 
well as cheese, are interdicted. With Priessnitz, you 
must generally submit to most simple, but strengthening 
fare, which suits the body best, as rich dishes and deli- 
cacies induce one to eat too much. 

As exercise in the open air assists the cure, it ought 
to be a rule to walk at least twice a day, for an hour 
each time. In bad weather, some work should be sub- 
stituted, such as sawing or chipping wood. Without 
exercise, the method at Graefenberg would be a great 
torment, for, by the heat it produces, it replaces that 
lost by drinking such quantities of cold water: you 
should never try to replace it by the heat of fire, this 
would be acting contrary to the treatment. You must 
also carefully avoid passing from cold to heat, particu- 
larly after the douche or bath ; neither should the wear- 
ing apparel be too warm, else it would be as bad as the 
heat of the fire, in impeding the movement and circula- 
tion of humours. Flannel next the skin is very bad ; 
after a week's treatment it may be left off without danger. 
I have seen persons who had never touched cold water, 
and who wore flannel next the skin for many years, 
leave it off after having perspired and bathed five or six 
times, go to the douche, and return with a simple linen 
shirt, without feeling uncomfortable in the slightest de- 
gree. Such a covering is sufficient for those who wash 
daily with cold water ; it neither weakens nor irritates 
the skin. Much also applies to beds, which should not 
be too warm ; the windows of the bed-room should be 
opened every day to admit fresh air. People subject to 
congestions of blood to the head, cannot have their bed- 
rooms too cold, or keep their heads too cool. 

i 



CHAPTER XIV. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



1. Persons, whether in a good or a diseased state of 
health, will be enabled by a trip to Graefenberg to 
understand the manner of treating diseases pointed out 
by the different authors on Hydropathy. 

2. Parents will there acquire the habit of using cold 
water, be prepared to ward off disease from themselves, 
and learn, by simple means, how to preserve the health 
of their children. 

S. Officers in the army, who have an insight into Hy- 
dropathy, will have nothing to fear from epidemics, as 
at Graefenberg they will find that fevers and inflamma- 
tions are diseases which form the easiest part of Mr. 
Priessnitz's practice. 

4. The water at Graefenberg has no advantage over 
that which we find every where, except that it is pecu- 
liarly cold and fresh. In the general purposes of the 
cure, water should be soft, that is to say, it must possess 
the quality of dissolving, and for this reason it must be 
cold, and divested of all mineral properties ; for to prove 
its fitness, linen cloth washed in it must become white, 
and vegetables dressed in it tender. Trout living in 
water does not prove its softness, but frogs do ; the softest 



OBSERVATIONS. \ gQ 

of all waters is the rain. Hard water makes the skin 
rough, but soft water, on the contrary, renders it 
smooth. 

5. Those who wish to begin ablutions in winter, 
should do so in a warm room, and as a beginning, in- 
stead of washing, they may wet a towel, and with it be 
well rubbed all over twice a day, or they may apply the 
wet sheet. The morning, immediately on getting out 
of bed, is the best time for the first ablution ; the other 
should be undertaken two or three hours after eating, 
never on a full stomach, nor immediately after making 
any great exertion. The rubbing should be continued 
from three to ten minutes. 

6. It is conceived that one ablution a day, and the 
drinking of cold water, will enable those who are in 
health, and in the enjoyment of life, to continue in 
that state. After any excess, instead of resorting to 
drugs, I recommend rubbing the body twice a day, an 
increase in cold water as a beverage, and a foot-bath. 
The same means may be resorted to by persons who have 
any reason to suppose that they have caught cold. 

7. In answer to the question, whether there is not 
some risk of catching cold whilst washing, we answer, 
" not the least." There is no better way of guarding 
against colds, or of hardening the skin, to contend with 
atmospheric changes. But in cold weather it is as well 
that all the body should be wetted simultaneously. Even 
in cold weather the temperature of the room to which 
the body is exposed, is higher or warmer than the water 
used, which cannot, in consequence, produce a cold. The 
contrary remark may be applied to warm water, as we 
have all experienced on getting out of a warm bath even 
in summer. 



140 



OBSERVATIONS. 



8. Before entering cold water, we ought to wash the 
head and the chest, in order to prevent the blood 
ascending to those regions. 

9. People, without knowing whether hot or mineral 
waters will be beneficial or otherwise, make use of them 
because it is the fashion so to do, or sometimes because 
their application is agreeable. A little reflection would 
show them that they must necessarily injure or destroy 
the coats of the stomach, weaken the skin, and cause an 
internal reaction of the blood, thereby rendering the 
body susceptible to every change of weather. 

10. Those who resort to sea bathing in general re- 
main in the water too long, and pay little or no atten- 
tion to diet. To derive advantage from a trip to any 
of our watering places, the latter, for the time at least, 
should be attended to ; and instead of bathing once, 
persons should bathe twice a day for three or four 
minutes each time. Staying in the water too long pre- 
vents that reaction which is so beneficial to health. 

11. When we reflect upon the fact that the action of 
the human heart is repeated at least one hundred thou- 
sand times a day, with sufficient force to keep in con- 
tinual movement a mass of from 50 to 601bs. of blood, 
we might inquire what watch, what machinery could be 
more easily deranged? Can we wonder at men being 
ill who are constantly eating too much, who indulge in 
acid wines, in thick and adulterated beer, or are in the 
habit of drinking spirituous liquors, or hot liquids of 
whatsoever nature they may be ? May we not be jus- 
tified in expressing our surprise that men refuse to se- 
cure a free and healthy action from the attenuating and 
dissolving qualities of water ? 

12. Few of us sufficiently appreciate pure cold water. 



OBSERVATIONS. \^\ 

For what will not man submit to rather than adopt such 
a simple diet ? What pain will he not endure ; what 
poisons swallow or rub into his flesh, rather than con- 
sent to seek relief from such a humble source? 

Animals, when thirsty, repair to the brook to quench 
their thirst ; when wounded, to assuage the pain. Water 
is nature's medicine, and man despises it. 

We would ask, what organic matter can grow or live 
without water ? None. We all know that animals or 
plants excluded from its beneficial influence die. If we 
would observe the vivifying effects of water, let us look 
at vegetation after a shower. Then what shall we say to 
vain, short-sighted man, who sets nature's laws at defi- 
ance, by avoiding all that they enjoin, and indulging in 
all that they interdict ? Why should he live without 
water more than all else that has life ? I answer, " He 
does not live;" for every day's experience proves that 
more than one-half of the inhabitants of the civilized 
world are constantly tormented by one disease or another, 
and that the greater part die before the natural term of 
life is completed. This was not the intention of Divine 
Providence, since pure cold water, found every where, 
will remedy both evils ; that is to say, will enable human 
beings to attain a good old age, and to live and die with- 
out pain. 

To one accustomed to Hydropathy, it is exceedingly 
painful to see the numbers of old and young who pass 
him in the streets at every turn, with stiffened joints, a 
dull eye, thickness of breathing, an unnatural tendency 
to corpulency, wrinkles, baldness, bad sight, and sallow- 
ness of complexion. These failings clearly indicate an 
habitual distaste for water: and the observer regrets 
the total ignorance which prevails as to the fact that in 



1 4,2 OBSERVATIONS. 

many of these cases, the mere drinking plentifully of 
water, and washing of the body at least once a day, 
would relieve these individuals of their diseases. Nay, 
more, if they had always been accustomed to this ele- 
ment, it might have warded those diseases off altogether. 

"What number of weakly, crippled children do we not 
see? I would ask their parents, "Do you encourage 
them in the drinking of water?" "No." "Then are 
you instrumental to their future misery : thus you 
deprive them of the power of being healthy in life, or 
attaining to longevity." When we look around us, on 
the organic world, we cannot but admire the perfection 
which everything, except that which is the noblest 
work of creation, seems to attain ; and we may justly 
exclaim with Goldsmith, "Man seems the only growth 
that dwindles here." Two things all people, whether 
strong or weak, can do with perfect safety,- and without 
these, health, for any length of time, cannot reasonably 
be expected; and these are, to drink plentifully of cold 
water, particularly before breakfast, and to rub the 
body all over every morning with a cold wet cloth, or 
take a cold bath. These simple measures will prevent 
and cure disease. Wherever pain exists, apply the 
healing bandage ; that is, a cold wet cloth, with a dry 
one over it, and its effect will prove miraculous. 

There is no preservative for the teeth like water. It 
is related, in a very useful little pamphlet, entitled 
" Facts, proving water to be the only beverage fitted to 
give health and strength to man ;" that General Norton, 
the Mohawk chief, who was in this country a few years 
ago, on being questioned by a professional gentleman 
as to the state of the teeth amongst the Indians, said, 
" that when the Indians are in their own settlements, 



OBSERVATIONS. 143 

living upon the produce of the chase, and drinking water, 
their teeth always look clean and white ; but when they 
go into the United States, and get spirituous liquors, 
their teeth look dirty and yellow, and then they are 
frequently afflicted with tooth-ache, and obliged to have 
their teeth drawn." 

It has been observed, by an able writer, that some 
people think to live well, means only to eat ; and, it 
might be added, to drink : to hear that a man can enjoy 
the pleasures of the table who refrains from wine and 
beer, and whose only beverage is water, appears, to such 
persons, as paradoxical ; and some go so far as to say 
that they prefer death to purchasing life upon such 
terms, forgetting that a temporary indulgence of two or 
three hours may render them uncomfortable the re- 
mainder of the twenty-four, and that the exciting, over- 
charging, and thickening the blood, makes invalids of 
men who otherwise might be in the enjoyment of robust 
health. 

" Nothing like the simple element dilutes 
The food, or gives the chyle so soon to flow." 

These bon vivants, from the excited state of their 
system, are not only more subject to complaints than 
persons who are in the habit of living temperately, but 
are more difficult of cure ; when overtaken with illness, 
none desire to be restored to convalescence with greater 
earnestness, none manifest a more ardent clinging to 
life than they. 

By my account of the manner of living at Grraefen- 
berg, it will be seen that no particular preference is 
given there to any description of food, the produce of 
the country — exotics alone, together with all spirituous 



]44 OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

liquors and spices, being excluded— is indiscriminately 
partaken of by all the patients. 

It is man's prerogative to elaborate and assimilate the 
most heterogeneous aliments, he not being limited, like 
other animals, to any particular food ; and it is certain 
that those who approach nearest to nature, who enjoy 
the benefit of pure air, and lead an active life, do not 
require to observe any particular rules. One thing is, 
however, admitted, that the duration of life depends more 
upon the quality than the quantity of food ; most people 
eat too much : and the English, more especially, par- 
take too freely of animal food. No people talk so much 
of indigestion, dyspepsia, &c. : and it has been said that 
they take more pills and aperients, and drink less water, 
than all the other nations of the world together. 



Observations by Dr. Bigel, of Strasburg, Member of 
the Legion of Honour, and of several of the Medical 
Societies of Europe. 

It must be remembered that I am a doctor, and that 
pride must suffer by receiving lessons from so humble a 
source as that of a peasant. 

I could, by investigations into past centuries, save the 
honour of science, and show that Hydropathy is not new 
to medicine. Yes, there is " no era in medical science 
which has not seen Hydropathy honoured, heard cold 
water exalted as a means of diet, and of curing diseases." 
But in giving it a professional origin, how shall I justify 
the neglect which medicine has shown towards it ? I 
shall not look for the motives, lest I should not find 
them of the most honourable nature ; I will content 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \^ 

myself with observing, that its too great simplicity was, 
and still is, its only fault. 

In fact, how can we descend from the height to which 
science is elevated, to drown so much learning in the 
element with which the Author of nature has covered two- 
thirds of the globe ? How shut up the immense arsenal 
of medicines drawn from the three kingdoms of nature, 
and from the four quarters of the world, and reject the 
fruit of so many wakeful hours, the inheritance of so 
many centuries, of those materials with which medicine 
has built its edifice, and decorated the temple of Escu- 
lapius ? And all this to subject suffering humanity to 
the influence of one only remedy, and condemn it, under 
pain of illness, to drink nothing but pure cold water ! 
This is a great sacrifice, I admit. It requires a great 
love of truth, and an unlimited devotedness to human 
happiness, wherefore Hydropathy must be subjected to 
great opposition. It has awakened the most violent 
passions against it, the ambition of glory and of for- 
tune. 

The learned fear to be robbed of their science ; the 
practitioner of his connexion ; the apothecaries tremble 
for their shops and drugs, yet Priessnitz respects all 
their properties. Simple as nature, he confesses to have 
no acquaintance with medicine but by name. Hippo- 
crates's lessons, and Galen's commentaries are unknown 
to him ; he makes no protestations against the ingenious 
systems which dispute the right of life or death on man- 
kind ; he knows of no other remedies than water, air, 
exercise, and diet ; therefore he has raised no battle-cry 
against those by whom humanity is daily sacrificed. His 
theory is not written. The knowledge of the pulse, the 
inspection of the tongue, (groundworks of diagnostic and 



J4g OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

prognostic sources of so many deceptions,) are not neces- 
sary to him. He examines nature's kingdoms but to dis- 
cern medicinal aliments, and exclude them from his treat- 
ment. Food and drink seem exclusively to occupy his 
attention ; he regards them as the materials of the human 
body ceaselessly composing and decomposing. When 
salubrious, and taken relatively to our wants, they are 
the natural supports of health, but when unwholesome 
and immoderately taken, they engender disease. Air is 
the food of the lungs, being the same to them as food to 
the stomach. In this element salubrity and unwhole- 
someness are equally to be found sources of harmony 
or discord. Respiration not being a voluntary function, 
man feels each moment its vital influence ; he eats and 
breathes, but he does not join exercise to these, for which 
purpose nature has given him the power of moving; his 
digestion languishes, the circulation of blood slackens, 
his mind and body become torpid, and life becomes 
mere vegetation. The citizen and the countryman may 
be justly compared ; the first to a hot-house plant ; the 
second to one growing in the open air, under the in- 
fluence of a vivifying sun. A naturalist has declared 
that the agitation of the air is indispensable to the health 
of the plants. Thus the wind is the exercise of vege- 
tables. Like plants, the human body requires air at the 
roots as well as on the surface ; more fortunate than 
they, he is not obliged to wait for rain kindly to quench 
his thirst, and moisten and wash his skin ; the liquid 
element is at his command. Nature has been prodigal 
of it around and beneath him. The little use he makes 
of it inwardly and outwardly is quite astonishing ; but 
he uses it to forward all his ambitious and money- 
making views. Behold him reduce it to steam, and 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \^tf 

perform with it trie miracles which we daily witness. He 
is not more sparing of it in his kitchen-garden and flower- 
beds ; he knows that water nourishes vegetables, and 
conserves the freshness, lustre, and beauty of his flowers. 
In fact, he uses this powerful element in every way, 
considering it from all antiquity as the most powerful 
dissolvent. What evil genius then has shut his eyes to 
its medical and Hygeian virtues ? Let us own frankJy 
with Priessnitz that it is the horror of all that is simple, 
and the taste for all that is complicated ; these two pas- 
sions have emanated, partly from pride, and partly from 
sensuality. 

Before the invention of arts, water was the only beve- 
rage of man. Antiquity still resounds with the fame of 
those prophylactic institutions to which mankind were 
daily invited ; their publicity, which brought no tax, 
drew to them the crowd. Can we not also attribute 
to the general use of baths that gigantic strength which 
rendered the Romans fit to conquer the world ? We 
cannot without astonishment look at their armour, 
which none of our present warriors would be able to 
wear. We do not give the honour exclusively to the 
outward use of cold water, but also to the continual 
exercise requisite to conquest ; sobriety, the companion 
of poverty, had also a share in this; but opulence, fruit 
of the spoils of the vanquished, soon altered the primi- 
tive character of nature. The senses were no longer 
contented with simple pleasures. The art of cooking, 
perfected, or rather invented, doubled the appetite, 
stimulating it with seasonings that nature never in- 
tended to be eaten ; thence the derangement of the 
digestive organs, unaccustomed to these new impressions, 
and overloaded by the generating of superfluous juices ; 



}z|g OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

thence the discord of trie functions, and the introduction 
of diseases which would have remained unknown to 
society. The weakness in the power of motion, the 
inevitable effect of this derangement, brought on the 
excitement of sensitiveness and irritability, whence arose 
inability and reluctance to take exercise, which is so 
necessary to maintain the equilibrium in animal economy. 
Cold baths, from their strengthening nature, ceased to 
suit the exaggeration of the sensitive system, which was 
increased by the losses of muscular power. Warm baths 
took the place of cold ones ; weakness and disease re- 
placed strength, and that flourishing health which is 
found nowhere but in the countries where temperance 
is honoured ! ! This is what every one knows, what 
history asserts ; and what has been left, and what most 
likely will be left to history, we being unwilling to 
admit the cause of our degeneration, acknowledge it the 
source of our diseases, or discover the rudiments of 
medicine. 

We cannot say that nature's legislation has had no 
orators in its favour. Setting aside the advice offered by 
moral philosophers, what century has passed without 
medical voices being raised to point out the errors of the 
course followed by society, and declaim against the vi- 
cious system of living which it has adopted? But sensual- 
ity becomes deaf, rather than hear reform mentioned. It 
has made a compact with pain, for which it makes up by 
artificial pleasures. It has said, I will pass life between 
medicines and ragouts. Thus the Sybarite speaks of life ; 
he consents to its being short, so that he enjoys it. 

Priessnitz is a new disciple of temperance — a great 
friend of water. Not like Seneca, who praised the ex- 
cellence of water, whilst he himself drank Falerne — he 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \ 49 

is an enthusiastic taker of exercise in the pure open air, 
and a copious water-drinker. Will he be more fortunate 
than his predecessors ? 

Until Priessnitz, others have merely preached the 
precepts of temperance, promising to those who follow 
them, the secret of permanent health. But as there 
were many examples of health, where diet was not ob- 
served, these caused doubt in the minds of men naturally 
ill-disposed to be convinced. 

Precepts contrary to customs consecrated by time, are 
seldom successful : they always give way to the seduc- 
tions of pleasure. Besides, there is an infinity of causes 
of diseases, which cannot be governed at will ; and has 
nature adorned the earth with so many delicious produc- 
tions, only to flatter the senses of the sight and smell, 
forbidding them to that of taste ? Thus do we think to 
justify ourselves, by arguing from the munificence of the 
Creator. 

Priessnitz answers thus : — But can we not limit our 
appetites to the wants arising from the climate under 
whose influence we are born ? If it be true that the 
Author of nature has everywhere placed the remedy by 
the side of the evil, can we, without blasphemy, deny 
that he has given all over the earth aliments which are 
in harmony with our wants ? What do we want with 
those fruits of which nature has destined the juices to 
refresh blood parched up by a burning sun, when we 
neither feel the extremes of heat nor cold ? and those 
aromatic substances with which it has covered the soil 
of countries where the springs of life ever require to be 
renewed, do they suit the eminently vital constitutions 
of temperate climates? That man, when making him- 
self a cosmopolite, should conform to the customs of 



150 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 



countries where he was not born, is not only an act of 
reason, but in this he also obeys instinct — here more 
forcible than reason itself; but that the inhabitant of 
temperate zones should live like the African, is a contra- 
diction. The man who does this declares war against 
the laws of nature. It is, however, in this state of per- 
petual conflict between nourishment and human organ- 
ization that society is now placed. Where can we now 
find a table, even in the centre of poverty, at which 
seasonings do not disfigure food ? We think this can 
have no pernicious influence on our humours ; but does 
it not stimulate the appetite, by making food savoury ? 
This is precisely the mistake we make. Eating with 
satisfaction is no doubt pleasant; but eating more 
than we require cannot be beneficial. Overloading the 
stomach demands a double effort of digestion. The dis- 
ciples of gastronomy are so w T ell aware of this fact, that 
they call in the aid of spirituous liquors, and the aro- 
matic of mocha. But the latter alone soon becomes in- 
sufficient ; and this is corroborated by a glass of liquor, 
jokingly called chasse cafe; and then they deny that 
these infractions, daily repeated, are the source of disease. 
I appeal to those fond of good living — Does the ple- 
nitude of the stomach, the wine, and aromatic ferment- 
ation of the alimentary mass, leave them the same acti- 
vity of mind and body after, as before the repast ? Let 
them say whether, before they were acquainted with this 
savoury manner of dining, they were obliged to submit 
to pills and purgings, to cleanse their stomach — whether 
they required those bitter draughts, which their lan- 
guishing stomach now demands, to produce appetite ? 
Thanks to the aid of medicine, the system returns to 
its natural order : but this is only to make place for 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \§\ 

new derangements, brought on by continued excesses : 
then we complain of the impotency of medicine. How 
can you get dry, if you remain under the water-spout ? 

As long as the digestive organs alone are at fault, 
medicine offers a remedy, although each remedy leaves 
after it traces of weakness, the inevitable result of pro- 
voked irritation. But it becomes useless when the bad 
juices, after having obstructed the intestines of the 
abdomen, corrupt the mass of the blood. 

Till then, the errors of diet have been punished only 
by acute diseases, over which nature, aided by art, has 
triumphed. But the scene soon changes — weakness, 
languor, and impotency, having replaced fever, and all 
the violent symptoms which accompanied it, nature, ever 
occupied in its own protection, saves the nobler organs 
at the expense of those less essential to life ; but we 
see all pains appear, especially spleen, oppression of the 
chest, palpitation of the heart, cramp in the stomach, 
diarrhoea, constipation, piles, .... rheumatism, 
gout, and a number of other chronic diseases which 
render life wretched. 

I again say, it is in vain we would attribute this or- 
ganic degeneration to other causes but those of a preju- 
dicial diet. No doubt they sometimes result from acute 
diseases little understood, (for nature is not faultless or 
infallible ;) they may owe their origin to the errors of 
medicine, still less infallible than nature ; but the causes 
which have thus produced them are accidental, whilst 
the errors of diet are permanent. 

Let us then no longer be blind to the source of the 
thousand inconveniences which disfigure the human spe- 
cies. Man is, physically and morally, the author of his 
own ills. He makes a fatal use of reason. Instinct has 



]52 OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

been accorded to him as well as to the lower orders of 
beings, who are very seldom diseased, because their sys- 
tem of living is invariable. If we change the order of 
nature, and domesticate and associate animals in some 
sort to our pleasures, they lose their beauty of shape, 
and their bloom of health, in exchange for superior trac- 
tability. This fact is a parody on our civilization. 

If this assertion, which I think I have demonstrated 
by evidence, still leaves a doubt in some minds, it can 
easily be dissipated by the testimony of the small num- 
ber of disciples of temperance, who have made them- 
selves acquainted with nature's laws, and who are faith- 
ful to its precepts: still more convincing is the evidence 
of those who have expiated their excesses by illness, and 
who have been taught moderation by experience. If 
they object that it has not been shown that diet has 
changed the health of the first, they will at least not 
refuse to believe the last, when they affirm that they 
were relieved from their sufferings after medicine had 
been found totally inefficient to the reform of a mode 
of life which was in permanent hostility with the laws 
of nature. The establishment at Graefenberg offers a 
great number of examples of persons who would give 
this account of themselves. Oppressed with pain, and 
becoming infirm, some invalids, to whom medicine is no 
longer efficacious, have come to ask of the founder of 
the water cure their miraculous restoration. We have 
seen, in the course of this work, to what conditions per- 
sons are subject whose cure he undertakes ; often the 
regimen which he imposes restores them to health, 
which they had considered for ever lost, without their 
being subjected to the whole process of the cure, Priess- 
nitz, from his experience, only considering that necess- 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. ] 53 

sary when the disease has taken deep root in the organic 
system. Wholesome food, a great deal of exercise in 
the open air, and water drank in abundance, are the only 
means adopted. 

It is a saying, the truth of which has never been dis- 
puted, " that those who can do much can do little," — 
the most serious diseases, which have offered the great- 
est resistance to medicine, having been cured at Graef- 
enberg, as we have seen by the description given of 
them, those of a less serious nature meet with a prompt 
and certain remedy. 

It will no longer be contested that cold water has the 
virtue of moistening, attenuating, spreading, and dis- 
solving all that is dry, vitiated, thickened, and hardened. 
This is the attribute of fluidity. It may be conceived, 
with equal facility, that this liquid, brought in contact 
with the whole of the organs, must refresh and fortify 
them. This is the attribute of cold. These truths ad- 
mitted, the cure of disease receives an easy application. 
Nature is aided by the dissolving and fortifying proper- 
ties of cold water, its greatest desideratum. It then 
no longer meets with obstacles in the expulsion of 
all vicious humours, all the viscera are open, divided, 
attenuated, and diluted. The skin, that great excretive 
organ, as the eruptions and efflorescences of all kinds with 
which it is covered at the termination of diseases, both 
chronic and acute, bear witness, is of the first import- 
ance : continually stimulated and fortified at the same 
time by the transition from heat to cold, and from cold 
to heat, daily bathed by abundant perspiration, it at- 
tracts to it the greatest quantity of morbid matter, from 
which it cleanses the blood, and purifies the organs 
where it had settled, without weakening the system in 



254 OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

the least degree. The frame on which it works must 
be sustained by wholesome and abundant nourishment, 
aided by cold baths, douche baths, and constant exercise 
in the open air„ Such are the series of curative pro- 
ceedings which are evident to any unprejudiced ob- 
server ; as to the interior movements of these medical 
operations, they are to us an impenetrable mystery. 
We know the errors into which medicine has ever been 
led by having attempted to draw aside the veil which 
covers the operations of nature, when it ought to have 
been limited to an imitation of nature's works. 

Priessnitz considers the agents employed in Hy- 
dropathy, wholesome food and exercise, to be of the 
greatest importance. The first is destined to replace 
the juices lost in perspirations, and discharges of all 
kinds ; exercise re-establishes the equilibrium between 
all the organs, and assists the elaboration and distri- 
bution of the new juices, which it harmonizes with the 
wants of each organ. 

Many have complained that this method of cure is ill- 
proportioned to the strength of invalids, and contrary 
to all that has hitherto been believed, professed, and 
practised. 

I must own that the Hydropathic process is not plea- 
sant, and has its difficulties. Graefenberg is not a 
place of pleasure. The temple of Momus is not erected 
beside that of Esculapius. But what does this matter 
to one whom pain has rendered unfit for enjoyment of 
pleasure? For one whom errors, or medicine, have 
condemned to insupportable sufferings ? Pleasure for 
him is only in the absence of pain. The invalid asks 
for relief, and implores a cure, so often promised, so 
often attempted, but never realized, and which he has 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \ 55 

spent treasures to obtain ; there nothing is required but 
a little courage and perseverance : the first comes from 
the love of life, and a resolution, which daily meets with 
its reward, and is easily persisted in. Strength of mind 
is wanted at Graefenberg to abandon luxurious habits, 
which could not agree with the severity of a regimen 
imposing many privations. 

However, it is useless to go to Graefenberg with a 
used-up body, half extinguished vital forces, and organs 
changed in their structure ; such invalids could not un- 
dergo the treatment. Hydropathy is a question ad- 
dressed to nature; if nature has lost her voice, she 
cannot answer.* 

Cease, then, to repeat these objections suggested 
by luxury, inspired by ill-will, and, perhaps, incredu- 
lity. Let the opponents of Hydropathy go to Grae- 
fenberg, they will find delicate women and children sup- 
port, without being in the slightest degree weakened, 
the treatment which from afar seems to inspire them 
with so many fears. 

The objection offered to this mode of cure, that it is 
opposed to the received ideas consecrated by the con- 
sent of centuries, is not unanswerable. Have not cen- 
turies established numerous errors, which have been 
dethroned by the discovery of truth ? Did not Galileo 
effectually contradict all preceding astronomers ? Medi- 
cine was also forced to admit the circulation of the 

* The author must here take the liberty of remarking, that it 
is evident Dr. Bigel retains some of the prejudices of medical men, 
—some of the old leaven, — for many old and infirm persons, and 
very many whose system was debilitated to a most alarming degree, 
have been perfectly restored at Graefenberg. 

K 2 



25(3 OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

blood, which, before Harvey's time, was not believed, 
notwithstanding the beating of the heart and arteries. 
The admission of one error more cannot, therefore, be 
too humiliating. 

Substituting cold for hot water, is doubtless a great 
antithesis. To suppress medicines, as being themselves 
diseases, seems a paradox, nay, more, a challenge to 
humanity. To pretend that water, diet, and exercise, 
are sufficient to cure disease, is an impracticable mode 
of simplifying the curing art. This is the language of 
most doctors, and the complaint of the amateurs of 
physic, and forms an object of doubt for even those who 
believe in the new cure. 

We can answer the first objection by the writings of 
several celebrated and conscientious doctors, who have 
received these new truths : we can tell the second, that 
water is far preferable to the taste of rhubarb and senna : 
to the last we may say, that doubt cannot resist the evi- 
dence of facts. I will complete the full measure of 
proofs, by repeating what has been affirmed in this work, 
that, in 1836, fourteen doctors, after having exhausted 
all the resources of science, and that of their colleagues, 
in vain, came to Priessnitz to be cured, which he effected. 
Could the founder of Hydropathy have received a more 
flattering testimony, or a more convincing proof of the 
excellence of his discovery ? 

I shall say no more about facts, the public notoriety 
of which defies incredulity and malevolence. I have said 
enough to inspire confidence and restore hope to the 
unfortunate victims of the present system, to whom me- 
dicinal drugs have become ineffectual. The reader 
wishing to be made acquainted with the manner of ap- 



OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. \ffl 

plying the only agent in curing of diseases, will find in 
the following summary a little course of treatment for 
the use of the partisans of Hydropathy : — 

Diseases arise from a derangement of the organs 
which act in the maintenance of life and health. If we 
judge of diseases by the names given them, and the va- 
rious ways in which they appear, they will be found 
very numerous. By bringing them back to the causes 
which produced them, their number may be consi- 
derably reduced. Multiplicity of form does not imply 
multiplicity of causes. It is the result of a diversity of 
organs, each of which has its different functions to per- 
form. 

Water, air, climate, repose, exercise, wakefulness, 
sleep, aliments, beverage, and passions, are the elements 
of moral and physical life. Their exact equilibrium 
preserves health : their unequal division is the source 
of disease. 

Man cannot always command pureness of air and 
water, nor the salubrity of the place or climate he 
inhabits ; but he can choose exercise or repose, wake- 
fulness or sleep, his aliments and beverage : and reason 
can restrain his passions. 

Religion has counted gluttony as one of the seven 
capital sins. Medicine with reason accuses it of the pro- 
duction of many diseases, and of aggravating those it 
does not produce. 

" I leave behind me," said a celebrated physician, 
when dying, "two great doctors: diet and water." Who 
has not remedied a slight indisposition, and averted a 
serious illness in the beginning, by diet and cold water ? 

In either chronic or acute diseases, the doctor begins 
by cleansing the first channels by vomitings and purg- 



J 58 OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

ings ; he introduces to the second, remedies to aid na- 
ture's work, of which he knows himself to be only 
the minister. What does Priessnitz do? The very 
same with water. Water is the greatest dissolvent of 
nature. 

If the first channels are obstructed, water dilutes, at- 
tenuates, divides, and spreads the impurities they con- 
tained, which the stomach and intestines afterwards 
eject. He administers it cold, because the temperature 
is tonic, and fortifying : this gives to nature sufficient 
energy to expel them. 

If the disease is settled in the blood, and its produce 
deposited in the various organs of animal economy, what 
is better than water to dilute that which is thickened ; 
to blunt that which is acute ; reanimate that which lan- 
guishes ; extinguish that which burns ; and reopen all 
the passages by which hurtful humours can escape ? 

A sudorific process, unknown until Priessnitz's time, 
produces perspiration, without fatiguing the organic 
system. It is maintained by drinking abundantly of 
cold water, which quenches thirst, moistens and refreshes 
the blood, replaces the lost juices, and maintains the 
tone of all the muscles. 

The cold bath into which the body, covered with per- 
spiration, is plunged, and which is exempt from any possi- 
bility of producing agitation of respiration or circulation, 
gives to the skin the tone and energy which perspiration 
had taken away. The exercise which follows this, re- 
stores to the body the lost heat. There is not one single 
instance of any person catching cold, produced by these 
sudden transitions from heat to cold ; — a phenomenon 
easily explained, from the general calm and equilibrium 
of the system. 






OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. J 59 

The object of the douche bath is to disturb the bad 
juices identified with the organs, and bring them out on 
the skin, which is stimulated by percussion. 

Local baths have the same object: hip-baths and 
foot-baths have the admirable property of keeping the 
humours away from the head and chest. 

Fomentations, or wet linen bandages, are sometimes 
covered with dry linen, sometimes not. The former 
are continually applied to obstructed and weak parts: 
the latter are exceedingly refreshing to inflamed parts. 

The end of all these united processes is the transport 
of the morbid humours to the skin, under the shape of 
eruptions, boils, and abscesses. These eruptions, called 
a crisis, are the certain sign of a perfect cure. 

After the expulsion of bad juices, and their being 
replaced by wholesome ones, the restoration of the 
digestive powers, the solution of obstructions, the libe- 
ration of all the organs, and the re-establishment of 
harmony in the vital and animal functions ; nothing can 
or does remain but health, which invalids take with them 
on leaving Graefenberg ; a treasure they keep, by re- 
maining faithful to the system to which they are in- 
debted for its acquisition. 

This apology for the curing method of Graefenberg 
will be looked upon as a medical profession of faith in 
it — and justly : for there is no denial of principles which 
ever were, and still are, the rules of my practice, 

The mission of a doctor is to alleviate pain, calm irri- 
tation, and extinguish burning heat, which accompany 
inflammation and fever; to moisten, dilute and attenu- 
ate, all that is dry, thick, and hardened ; to soften down 
acrimony ; to reduce obstructions ; to dissipate conges- 
tions ; to keep all the excretive passages open, to make 



j£Q OBSERVATIONS BY DR. BIGEL. 

all movement converge thither ; to attract there all 
hurtful humours, to operate their discharge ; lastly, to 
keep up the strength of the invalid, according to the 
wants of nature, which must itself labour in this great 
work, the accomplishment of which the doctor should 
aid, and never impede. This is, I think, the object of 
medicine, of which I have described the acts and inten- 
tions. 

If it is objected that one remedy cannot fulfil so many 
various objects, I shall reply that it is multiplied by 
those acquainted with its use, that the numerous ways 
in which it is employed, answer to the numerous reme- 
dies which art would produce. For foot-baths, half- 
baths, partial and entire baths, the douche, and injec- 
tions, although all composed of cold water, are as many 
distinct remedies, each having its particular properties, 
answering to the wants of nature. 

It is also wrong to say that this curing method has 
but one remedy, whilst the eminently powerful and be- 
neficial sudorific process is put in requisition. The 
equally influential power of exercise, also, in the open 
air ; of wholesome food, abundance of which is craved bf 
a devouring appetite, produced by frequent exercise; 
lastly, the silence of passions, commanded by the system, 
and the fact of the sphere of pleasure in the enjoyment 
of the distractions of society being circumscribed, are 
all of the very highest importance in carrying out the 
water cure: indeed this kind of medicine is always as 
good as any other ; it has, at least, the advantage of not 
being revolting to the sense of taste, and as it can be 
self-administered, and every where procured, is within 
the reach of all classes. 



LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. \Q\ 



LETTER OF DR. ENGEL, VIENNA. 

In a letter written to the Editor of the Gazette Medi- 
cal de Paris, 13th Jan. 1840, Dr. Engel, of Vienna, 
writes as follows : — 

Sir, — In visiting your capital, the centre of civiliza- 
tion, it is impossible for a foreigner, animated with the 
desire of instruction, not to make every effort to profit 
by the perfection which arts and sciences have attained 
there. Whatever may be his studies, it is certain that 
he will add greatly to his previous knowledge and in- 
formation ; in the midst of his admiration he will, not- 
withstanding, be astonished to find a total ignorance in 
this civilized country, of the progress in a branch of the 
medical art, which has succeeded to such an extraordi- 
nary extent in Germany. Excited by a legitimate na- 
tional pride, and by a consciousness of duty which he is 
bound, as a medical man, to perform, he feels the neces- 
sity of making known this valuable discovery, the efficacy 
of which, from the numerous experiments that have been 
made, there can exist no doubt. 

These are the motives, sir, which led me to forward 
these lines to you, and to beg, if you think them calcu- 
lated to be useful, that you will insert them in your va- 
luable journal. 

The narrow limits to which I am obliged to confine 
myself, will not permit me to treat this important sub- 
ject, so as to make you comprehend entirely Hydropa- 
thy, or the cold water cure. I will only, for the present 
moment, give the leading features of the system, saying 



2(32 LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. 

something of its origin and progress, in order to attract 
the attention of the French medical profession to the 
subject. If, as I venture to hope, these lines are favour- 
ably received, I propose afterwards publishing a small 
work, more in detail, developing the theory and practice 
of the treatment (the astonishing efficacy of which I have 
proved myself,), by enumerating many facts, chosen out 
of a great number, all of which came under my own 
especial observation. 

In all ages water has been employed in different cases. 
I believe, however, that our times are destined to see 
the use of it much more extended, and to show us in 
what manner medical science, now so complicated, had its 
origin. In fact, it is not from any profound researches, 
it is not by the learned availing themselves of the know- 
ledge of their predecessors, that this powerful, though 
simple method, of curing disease has been discovered, — 
it is to a plain countryman, guided by his observations 
of nature, that humanity is indebted. 

Priessnitz, whose name is celebrated throughout Ger- 
many, inhabits Graefenberg, a hamlet until a recent 
period completely isolated and unknown, upon a moun- 
tain of the chain of the Sudates, on the frontier of the 
Austrian monarchy. In his retired retreat, deprived of 
all medical aid, he attempted to cure the diseases by 
which he and his relations were afflicted : encouraged by 
success, he next endeavoured to cure persons attacked 
by the gout, which defies all other remedies, and which 
is an endemic in this country. He again succeeded. His 
observations were increased, his judgment strengthened, 
and his quick perceptions confirmed. The fame of his 
cures became known, his renown brought invalids not 
only from all parts of Austria, but also from distant 



LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. \Qg 

countries ; almost all returned convalescent, or relieved 
more effectually than could ever have been expected. 
But now a greater triumph awaited nature's doctor. 
After having suffered all sorts of calumny, of envy, and 
contempt from scientific conceit, he at last saw his 
efforts appreciated ; all are now ready to do him justice, 
to follow him in his practice. Many considerable estab- 
lishments have been created upon the model of that 
which he founded; and Hydropathy is honoured and 
respected throughout all Germany. 

As I have already said, it is on a high mountain that 
Priessnitz first commenced his cures ; there are now 
about two hundred and fifty invalids at this place. It 
was in the middle of a forest that he thus undertook 
the cure, without any other auxiliaries than pure air and 
water springing from the rocks, and a wonderful talent 
to adapt and modify the treatment requisite for all ; no 
two persons being treated exactly alike in this apparently 
simple and uniform cure. 

But it is useless to ask him the theory or the prin- 
ciples of his treatment; however active and energetic 
may be his ideas, he cannot express them ; it is only by 
closely observing his actions that you can form any idea 
of the manner in which he follows the laws of physic 
and physiology, the names of which sciences are unknown 
to him. 

In this wild situation you see scattered several pea- 
sants' cottages, and also Priessnitz's house, which has 
nothing to distinguish it from the others. Amongst 
these cottages are two large buildings, constructed 
principally of wood, destined to lodge those who have 
come to consult him. Though the rooms are small and 
uncomfortable, his patients however, far from being 



1(34< LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. 

disheartened, are all sustained by the hope of recover- 
ing their health. Many remain during winter, which 
is extremely severe in these mountains, where in the 
month of August I have found before the rising of the sun 
but six degrees of heat, Reaumur, (45 degrees Fahren- 
heit.) But Priessnitz thinks the lower the temperature 
of the water is, the more efficacious it will prove. The 
cure once commenced cannot be discontinued without 
injury to the patient. 

I shall now enter into some details of the way an 
invalid employs his time at Graefenberg, which will 
at the same time give an idea of the general treatment. 
I say idea, because Priessnitz varies it in so many ways 
according to the persons to whom it is applied, that 
you must have witnessed the treatment to judge of the 
variety of its applications. That which distinguishes 
this, however, from every other cure, is the absence 
of all pharmaceutic agency ; it is the perspiration and 
the crisis that characterize it, and which remove all the 
diseases submitted to the action of cold water. 

The invalid is awoke at four or five o'clock in the 
morning, then enveloped almost hermetically in a thick 
coarse woollen blanket, the head only is left uncovered, 
by which all contact with the exterior air is carefully 
avoided. Presently the heat accumulates round the 
invalid, depending upon the heat of the atmosphere, and 
he perspires sufficiently to wet the whole of the cover- 
ings ; during this time he may drink as much cold water 
as he pleases. After he has thus sweated the allotted 
time, he takes a cold bath. The first impression is 
doubtless disagreeable ; but once overcome, an agreeable 
sensation follows, as the pores dilated by the heat ab- 
sorb the liquid. 



LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. 1(35 

After much observation it is found to be the moment 
when that salutary exchange takes place which purifies 
the system. This sudden variation of temperature 
never has produced any serious accident ; all irritation 
produced by stimulants is carefully avoided, the lungs 
are not heated by breathing hot air, as in the Rus- 
sian baths, the skin only being slightly stimulated. On 
coming out of the bath the invalid is dried and quickly 
dressed ; if able he then takes a walk, during which he 
drinks abundantly of cold water. 

He ought, however, to avoid excess, which, is mani- 
fested by a disagreeable weight at the stomach. Habit 
does wonders in this respect. You see persons almost 
hydrophobic at the commencement, who, after a time, 
drink from twenty to thirty glasses of water a day. 

Breakfast consists of bread, cold milk, and fruit. 
Priessnitz considers all heated things to be prejudicial 
and debilitating to the stomach : and this opinion is con- 
firmed by his experiments upon animals. After break- 
fast every one is expected to take a long walk, and then 
proceed to the douche, leaving a sufficient interval to 
avoid accidents. 

Invalids, whose skins are habitually cold, dry, and 
hard, will perspire more easily from cold ablutions ; 
those who suffer from local complaints are relieved by 
more or less frequent fomentations ; those who are at- 
tacked by chronic evils which are more obstinate, are 
submitted to the influence of cold water. 

I have already made mention of the douche ; it is very 
interesting to observe the efficacy of this last manner of 
applying cold water. A gouty subject, for instance, who 
submits his hands and feet, or any swelled part, to the 
action of a strong fall of water, experiences the follow- 



IQQ LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. 

ing phenomenon : his skin becomes quite red, and he 
then feels an intolerable itching, occasioned either by 
reabsorption, or oftener by a topical suppuration. 

Invalids should generally drink much cold water, and 
take a great deal of exercise if they can support fatigue. 
The dinner-hour is one o'clock. I think it would be 
difficult to see a more extraordinary appetite than that 
possessed by Priessnitz's invalids, who all dine in the 
same room. 

Individuals afflicted by chronic diseases, whose diges- 
tion has been deranged by a number of remedies, are 
not long before they re-establish its functions, by the 
return of their vital force. The food is plain and abun- 
dant; the only objection to it is that the dishes are 
sometimes too coarse for delicate stomachs. Each person 
eats as much as he pleases, or according to his appetite. 

If the weakness of the patients, or the crisis already 
begun, does not prevent it, they recommence some hours 
after dinner the treatment of the morning ; the douche 
is, however, forbidden, as too irritating. After a slight 
supper of cold milk and breads every one retires to rest. 
The occupations of the day are a guarantee for repose 
during the night. 

The sensation caused by the Hydropathic treatment 
differs essentially from that arising from any other me- 
thod of curing. 

In the beginning, the return of strength and the 
awaking of the torpid faculties are agreeably felt; 
excitement is not limited to the affected organs, but 
becomes general, and produces a salutary revolution in 
all the vital powers. 

The true febrile symptoms develope themselves ; the 
pains already existing become more intense ; old dis- 



LETTER OF DR. ENGEL. \ffl 

eases, in appearance cured long since, reappear ; these 
effects are but the forerunners of a more determined 
crisis. 

Almost all the patients who have followed this treat- 
ment for some time, feel an itching and a sharp pain in 
the skin, which is sometimes covered with spots or 
pimples of different forms. 

The diseases which are caused by the irregularity of 
the nervous functions, are generally limited to this sort 
of crisis. If we, on the contrary, treat of the cure of 
what are called material diseases, the phenomena which 
they manifest are sufficient to convince the most incre- 
dulous of the efficacy of this treatment. The sweating, 
more abundant every day, contains morbid matter, the 
nature of which differs according to the disease. The 
different shades of the viscosity and of the odours, prove 
this most incontestably. The number of abscesses which 
make their appearance sooner or later, under the influ- 
ence of cold water, purify the system of corrupt hu- 
mours. Whilst the invalids are thus covered with 
abscesses, an abundant secretion is discharged by per- 
spiration, the urine, or the urethra. They then find 
themselves physically and morally better, their appetites 
increase, their pains are diminished, and, finally, their 
health is established. 

I shall finish this notice by enumerating the diseases 
which more especially are cured or relieved by cold 
water ; and examples of which are found in great num- 
bers in the Hydropathic establishments, 

I may fairly hope as this method becomes better known 
and more practised, under various circumstances, and in 
different climates, that it will be more and more appreci- 
ated ; my observations have convinced me that the mode 



|(38 LETTER OF DR. BEHREND. 

of treatment is efficacious, principally in chronic diseases, 
accompanied by atony ; in all nervous affections, spasms, 
pains of which medicine will not discover the cause ; in 
cases of obstructions of the stomach, and all the system- 
atic evils which arise from them ; such as indigestion, 
hypochondria, piles, jaundice, &c. Also in cases of 
gout, rheumatism, scrofula ; diseases affecting women, 
such as hysterics, &c. In fact, cold water, is perfectly 
successful in a number of diseases, beyond the reach of 
medicine altogether. I have again had occasion to ad- 
mire the result of the application of cold water in cases 
of ague, accompanied by symptoms of fever, such as 
nervous, typhus, putrid and scarlet fevers ; but its most 
signal triumphs are obtained over those serious derange- 
ments of the system produced by the abuse of drugs, 
such as when the passage of the system is obstructed by 
quinine ; or when consumptions are produced by iodine, 
arsenic, or the consequences of mercury, tartar emetic, 
and other dangerous medicaments have manifested them- 
selves. 

LETTER OF DR. BEHREND, BERLIN, 

You know already, without doubt, sir, by the public 
voice, and through the press, the new method of apply- 
ing cold water in the cure of most diseases, internally 
and externally. This method was discovered by a pea- 
sant named Priessnitz, a man endowed with superior 
intelligence and extraordinary penetration. It has been 
in use for eight years, with the consent of the Austrian 
government, at Graefenberg, a village in Silesian Aus- 
tria. So many cures have been effected by this peasant, 
and cures of so astonishing a nature, that numbers of 



LETTER OF DR. BEHREND, BERLIN. 1(J9 

patients have arrived, not only from Germany, but other 
countries ; and doctors, who prefer instructing them- 
selves to blindly opposing so new and wonderful a dis- 
covery, are on the increase. The number of patients, 
of all ranks of society, during this year, was more than 
fifteen hundred, (not including fifty doctors.) The vil- 
lage of Graefenberg is already changed into a small town. 
The matter has been scrupulously examined by the 
Prussian government, which has confirmed the happy 
results arising from this new application of cold water. 
The method is named Hydriatrique, or Hydropathy, and 
has attracted the attention of all the governments of 
Germany. 

The great success which Priessnitz has obtained, and 
still obtains every day, does not depend upon the quality 
or composition of the water, which is pure spring water, 
but on the new manner in which it is administered. 

Establishments have already been formed of the same 
nature at Breslau, Brunswick, Dresden, Gotha, Bavaria, 
and at Cassell, &c. &c. There are two at Berlin ; and 
a friend of mine is on the point of establishing one in 
some town or village of Belgium. After having seen 
such extraordinary success obtained by this Hydriatrique 
method, after having examined, without prejudice, the 
persons returning cured from Graefenberg, many of 
whom were connexions of my own, I went there with 
two other professional men, in order to see with our 
own eyes. We staid there six weeks, strictly examin- 
ing the peasant Priessnitz's method. 

Practitioner as I am, of fifteen years' standing, and 
editor for six years of a medical journal, I was at first a 
little mistrustful of this novelty, and compared it with 

L 



170 LETTER OF DR. BEHREND, BERLIN. 

many others whose authors pretended to reform the me- 
dical art, and who have completely vanished. But, Sir, 
that which I saw with my own eyes at Graefenherg, and 
other similar establishments, struck me, as it will you, 
with astonishment. I have seen asthmas and pleu- 
risies completely cured in three or four days by cold 
water only. I have seen an old intermittent fever cured 
by cold water, without quinine or any other remedy than 
cold water. I have seen measles, scarlatina, small-pox, 
nervous fevers, rheumatism, scrofula, hernia, tracheitis, 
or complaints of the throat, gout, ringworm, syphilis, 
tic douloureux, and other nervous affections ; tumours in 
the glands ; swelling of the heart, liver, and all effects 
of mercury, and many other diseases, cured by simple 
cold water, without the aid of any other remedy 
whatever ; and in a comparatively shorter time, and 
a more favourable manner for the constitution, than 
could have been attained by any other means. Cold 
water is administered in all diseases, internally and ex- 
ternally, but the method of application is varied accord- 
ing to the individual and the case. Cold water serves 
sometimes as a revulsive and sometimes as a depressive 
agent, and in all these cases the efficacy of water is so 
clearly manifested, that to doubt is impossible ; and if 
you, Sir, had witnessed what I have, you would not 
doubt any more than myself. 

Since this letter of Dr. Behrend's was written, the 
author has been at Berlin, where he was informed that 
a doctor at the head of one of the Hydropathic esta- 
blishments in that city, made a report to the Govern- 
ment that out of 280 patients who had been subjected 
to the water cure in 1810, there had been but one death, 



ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. 171 

that of a child three years of age, who at the commence- 
ment was declared too far gone to give great hopes of its 
recovery. 

Extract from a Work, published in 1840, by Dr. Sauvan, 
of Warsaw, Corresponding Member of the Royal 
College of Surgeons, London, and Member of the 
Medical Societies of Paris, Florence, and Naples, as 
an Address to the Medical Society of Warsaw ; en- 
titled " An Explanation of the Scientific Principles 
of Hydropathy, or the Method employed at Graefen- 
berg." 

After concisely tracing the history of disease, and ex- 
plaining the different means resorted to by the faculty 
for counteracting the same, the Doctor proceeds, as 
follows, to point out the advantages of Hydropathy : — 

This method of curing diseases consists in a peculiar 
regimen ; in the use of a great quantity of cold water as 
a drink ; in excitation ; in copious perspiration ; in the 
employment of entire and local cold baths, cold ablu- 
tions, and injections into the cavities of the body ; of 
frictions, douches, and cold damp fomentations. The 
importance of regimen in the curing of all diseases has 
been too often demonstrated to render it necessary for 
me to enter into any details upon that subject. I shall 
therefore limit myself to the observation, that if a modi- 
fication of diet is requisite in the treatment of acute dis- 
eases, it is not less so in the treatment of chronic ones ; 
because it is only in the debilitating habits of a seden- 
tary life, in the excess of intellectual occupations, in 
richness of food, in the abuse of fermented liquors, in the 
bad air of town, and the vexations of domestic life, that 

l2 



17£ ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAM, WARSAW. 

the greater part of chronic diseases take their rise. Tt 
will be in vain for such persons to seek to recover their 
health, without abandoning all these causes, at least du- 
ring the time they are under the cold water treatment. 
Cold water, drank in certain quantities, acts especially 
upon the stomach and all the digestive organs. 

Its temperature excites more vigorous contractions, 
refreshes the stomach and intestines by dissolving all 
obstructions, and gives them a tone without irritating. 
In fact, those who know the importance of digestion in 
the curing of chronic diseases, can easily appreciate the 
important service which cold water may render. This 
neutral fluid being easily absorbed, renders the blood 
more fluid; and having, by means of circulation, entered 
into the interior of the organs, it there dissolves all ex- 
cretory matter. In fact, water, when it passes off, whe- 
ther by the means of urine or by perspiration, is strongly 
impregnated with a quantity of impure matter. 

Cold water, as a drink, penetrates more effectually 
into our intestines than any other remedy. By its di- 
lating properties, it assists all evacuations without force, 
leaving to the system the choice of the way and of the 
time. 

Sweating. This mode of treatment, is produced by 
covering the body with blankets, in order to prevent 
the escape of the caloric of the human frame. There is 
no difference between these perspirations and the ordi- 
nary ones, except that in this case the morbid matter 
when it begins to be dissolved, escapes through the skin : 
sometimes it is green or yellow, and exudes different 
odours : sometimes it is even fetid. 

It is a curious phenomenon for pathology, to ob- 
serve the different smells arising from perspiration after 



ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. \ 73 

the use of certain medicines, sucli as mercury and sul- 
phur, even though taken several years previously. Cri- 
tical sweats have, after mercury, the same repulsive smell 
which is remarked after mercurial salivation ; and after 
sulphur they exhale an odour similar to that substance. 
Perspirations are called critical when they visibly relieve 
the invalid. 

The concentration of organic heat stimulates the blood 
and ]ymph, and causes them to circulate more rapidly in 
the capillary vessels. The rejection of excretory sub- 
stances dissolved by cold water, taken as a beverage, is 
rendered more abundant from the skin thus aided by an 
accelerated circulation ; and to avoid that weakness of 
the body which so frequently follows the open state of 
the capillary vessels ; causing, as we see in the colliqua- 
tive sweats, a free passage not only to the worn-out and 
diseased parts, but also to the nourishing parts, and to 
those necessary to the system. Ablutions and cold baths 
are employed. These must be taken gradually, de- 
scending from 72 to 45 degrees. They give, by their 
temperature, a contraction to the capillary vessels, pre- 
vent the skin becoming too sensible afterwards to atmo- 
spheric changes, (which occurs upon the prolonged use 
of warm baths,) they clear away the perspiration from the 
worn epidermis, and strongly excite, by their action, the 
reaction of the system. It is an acknowledged fact, that 
after the application of one of these agents people be- 
come warm, even in a low degree of temperature. 

It is here necessary to dissipate the fears which a 
great number of persons entertain (and which I only 
overcame myself after having witnessed for four months 
and a half the salutary effects of the cure at Graefenberg 
on more than 500 invalids of all ages, all sexes, and all 
constitutions) of drinking or bathing in cold water when 



|74 ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. 

heated, or even when the body is covered with perspira- 
tion. For the experience of centuries seems to have 
shown, that thousands of persons after having drunk 
cold water when heated, or in a state of perspiration, 
have been subjected to inflammation of the lungs, heart, 
head, or liver, and to apoplexy. However, on the 
other hand, we see every day at Graefenberg hundreds 
of persons when covered with perspiration, drinking 
abundantly of cold water, and in that state plunging 
into a cold bath, without our being able to cite, out of 
10,000 people who have visited Graefenberg since 
the commencement, a single instance of injury result- 
ing from it! 

We are still more assured of the benefit of this treat- 
ment when we see a government so cautious as the 
Austrian government, whose example has been followed 
by so many other states of Germany, jealous of the 
health of their subjects, and having a severe medical 
police, encourage this treatment, with the conviction that 
it is without danger. 

To understand these two facts, equally true though 
contradictory in appearance, we must examine into the 
mode of producing these perspirations, so completely 
different in their effects. When perspiration is caused 
by medicine, or violent movement, such as dancing or 
other fatiguing exertion, the skin not only perspires, 
but the respiration and the circulation are powerfully 
accelerated, and the radical viscera of life, the brain, 
heart, and lungs are in a general state of excitement ; 
which is not the case in sweats produced through the 
medium of the treatment at Graefenberg, by the heat 
concentrated in the body by means of blankets, which 
stimulates the skin without any movement on the 
part of the invalid. The skin only in this case is in a 



ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW, J 75 

state of irritation, as is evidenced by its redness and its 
high temperature, whilst the internal organs are refreshed 
by the deglutition of cold water prescribed with the 
view of keeping up perspiration. There is then so great 
a difference between the two states of the organs, 
though they are in appearance so similar, that I have 
thought it my duty to mark it in an especial manner, 
because any misunderstanding in this respect might 
occasion very serious consequences. 

The douche bath at first produces violent excite- 
ment, by creating in the w T hole body a powerful reaction, 
partly occasioned by the mechanical action of a fall of 
water from 10 to 18 feet high, and partly by the coldness 
of the water ; this produces a redness of the skin, and 
gives heat, activity, and strength to the body, and an in- 
creasing activity to the digestive powers. 

The douches are very properly prescribed, when it 
is requisite to produce a strong reaction, to fortify 
the skin, to disperse the accumulation of injurious and 
inert deposits by stimulating their absorption, as in 
cases of swellings of' the glands and joints; they are 
also useful to bring back ringworms or efflorescence 
which had entered the system, or to provoke a critical 
hemorrhage and the discharge of hemorrhoids, or to 
give activity to the vein and capillary circulation in 
obstructions of the abdomen. It is easy, after these 
details, to perceive that the douche is detrimental in all 
cases where it is necessary to diminish and calm the 
reaction of the blood and nerves. The primitive effect 
of the sitz and foot-baths, is a sensation of cold to the 
parts submitted to the action of water, and a congestion 
to the upper regions of the body. This is to be pre- 
vented by applying a cold damp cloth to the head during 



176 ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. 

the first ten minutes. By depriving the body of its 
superfluous caloric, the water soon becomes warm. At 
first it is only the parts wetted which are refreshed, but 
in a short time the whole mass of blood, by the rapidity 
of its circulation, passes to the cold parts and warms 
them, and the upper part of the body by degrees becomes 
refreshed. 

After remaining some time in a sitz-bath the pulse 
slackens, and the congestions to the head, by reaction, 
descend to the inferior parts ; and head-aches, heat to 
the eyes, tooth-aches, and inflammations of the throat, 
are relieved. This mode of refreshing the head is slower, 
but it is milder and more certain than the immediate ap- 
plication of cold water to the parts, because the reaction 
of the system which follows the application, if the latter 
be not continued, augments, by its secondary effect, the 
congestion which it had calmed by its primitive action. 

I he action of cold sitz and foot-baths is derivative, if 
employed for a short time (half an hour) without chang- 
ing the water. Again, it diminishes congestions of blood 
to the upper regions of the body, by the consecutive re- 
action of the system, which accelerates the capillar} 7 cir- 
culation of the parts immersed. Hence their utility in 
hemorrhoids, les regies douloureuses, etpeu abondant, &c. 
But when required to combat intestine inflammations, 
dysentery, or chronic diarrhoea, sitz-baths, at first with 
the chill off (64° Farh.,) are employed. In this the 
patient remains for hours, changing the water every half 
hour, each time a little colder, until it becomes very 
cold ; during which time, abundant potations of cold 
water must be resorted to, but not in large quantities at 
a time, until a shivering is produced, which is very soon 
followed by the refreshing of the entire body. 



ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. J 77 

As the sitz-baths are in more frequent use, and 
milder than entire baths or ablutions, which can only 
be employed for a few minutes, there is not an invalid 
who, if he conforms to the custom established at Graef- 
enberg, ought not to use it once or twice a day. 
Rubbing with the hand gives greater effect to these 
baths, by exciting the circulation of the blood in the 
abdomen. 

After treating at large on the subject of cold injec- 
tions, cold fomentations, &c, the doctor proceeds to 
state, that water, as a neutral fluid, is filtered through 
the body ; and is there of the same importance as it is in 
all nature, where its effect is to dissolve and to facilitate 
compositions and decompositions, after the maxim so 
well understood in physic, " corpora non agunt nisi 
soluta." If we consider that every thing in the system 
derives its principle from the fluid called blood, which 
becomes fluid after being used by the organism of life, 
before it is discharged from the body, it will be evident 
that the water which encourages this fluidity must aid 
circulation in the most delicate vessels of the body, and 
by that means facilitates even the reparation of our 
system. 

With respect to its temperature, it must be ob- 
served, that water produces quite different effects under 
different circumstances, depending upon whether it 
is applied for a long or short time ; that is to say, 
whether we avail ourselves of its first or second action ; 
whether we are to be warmed by the caloric of the body, 
or be kept cold by renewing the water often. Again, 
its action is quite different when applied to a part af- 
flicted, from its operation on a part removed from the 
seat of disease. The first effect of water is sudden, 



]78 ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW. 

giving place to another, or second effect, that is to say, 
reaction, which those who have washed with cold water 
or snow must have experienced. 

Is the treatment at Graefenberg applicable to all de- 
scriptions of disease ? I reply, that its application may 
be useful in a great number of both acute and chronic 
diseases ; but there are, however, cases where some 
essential organ has become defective, so that art can 
only prolong existence and diminish suffering. Among 
the exceptions may be cited consumption, organic dis- 
eases of the heart, of the lungs, of the large vessels, open 
cancers, dropsy, &c. Notwithstanding, in all these cases, 
and many others known to be incurable, a palliative relief 
is afforded by the moderate use of some of the applications 
at Graefenberg, employed judiciously. 

But will this treatment effect a radical cure ? All 
depends upon what is to be understood by the term 
radical. If it be the eradicating from the system that 
which is the cause of disease, and relieving the patient 
from all pain, then the cure by this method will be 
radical ! But if to be radical a cure must prevent a 
return of the disease, in cases of parties exposing them- 
selves to the same influences as those which occasioned 
it in the first instance, neither this nor any other method 
will have that effect. 

As to the question of danger in the treatment at Grae- 
fenberg, I do not believe there can be any active mode 
more innocent, either with regard to its present or 
future effects. This observation refers only to Priess- 
nitz; because, if the treatment be injudiciously applied, 
(of which I know many instances,) it may be attended 
with dangerous consequences. People who are unac- 
quainted with Hydropathy imagine that drinking too 



ADDRESS OF DR SAUVAN, WARSAW. J^g 

plentifully of cold water will produce dropsy. To con- 
vince them of their error in this respect, it is only 
necessary to observe, that it is not water which occa- 
sions dropsy, but a watery albuminous fluid, generally 
coagulated by heat and acids. This fluid, in dropsical 
people, fills the cellulary tissue and the different cavi- 
ties of the body, and is always the product of a morbid 
secretion of the watery membranes which line the inte- 
rior of the cavities. The secretion is generally caused 
by the irritation of the membranes, the result of the 
abuse of fermented liquors. It could not be produced 
by cold water, in whatever quantities the latter might 
be drank. 

Others pretend, that this new method of cure will 
wrinkle the skin, and make people look older than they 
really are : this is also a gratuitous assertion, and not 
less destitute of foundation than the preceding. It is 
true that warm baths and also hot climates, in weaken- 
ing and relaxing the contractibility of the skin, may 
produce wrinkles before their time ; and, on the other 
hand, intense and continual cold, as in northern regions, 
by preventing the development of the body, and prin- 
cipally the surface, may produce the same result ; but 
the momentary action of cold baths produces quite dif- 
ferent effects, by giving a tone and contractibility to the 
skin : for the consequent reaction produced by cold, in 
bringing the blood, by the capillary attraction, to the 
surface, maintains, by its more active circulation, the 
nutrition and colour of the skin, and, aiding the excre- 
tions, prevents the heating of that organ. Thus, far 
from causing wrinkles, cold water is the surest and most 
efficacious means of preventing them. Experience con- 
firms the fact, that to the use of cold baths and cold 



2gQ ADDRESS OF DR. SAUVAN, WARSAW, 

water, as a beverage, numbers of persons are indebted 
for having preserved the freshness of their skin and 
complexions to a very advanced age. This fact fully 
justifies the expressed opinion of many celebrated doc- 
tors, that fresh water is the best of all cosmetics. A 
third prejudice, still more divested of foundation, if pos- 
sible, than the two preceding, is, that though this mode 
of treatment produces very salutary effects for the first 
few months, it in the end occasions, (principally amongst 
nervous persons,) most dangerous consequences. 

It is to the following cause that I attribute this mis- 
take. Though this mode of cure has the incontestable 
advantage over any other of fortifying the whole body, 
and rendering the nervous less susceptible to exterior 
influences, it has not the virtue of changing the entire 
system, and of rendering robust those that are by nature 
delicate. This is too much to expect from any treat- 
ment : strength or weakness depends, as everybody 
knows, upon innate dispositions, upon the entire sys- 
tem, upon education, mode of living, nature of occupa- 
tions, &c. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PRIESSNITZ'S GENIUS IN DETECTING DISEASE — CASES 
OF CURE, ETC. 

After citing a few cases, to show Mr. Priessnitz's sin- 
gular talent in the detection of disease without feeling 
the pulse, looking at the tongue, or adopting any of the 
means resorted to by medical men, and giving several 
instances of cases which came immediately under my own 
observation, (the names of the parties being withheld for 
obvious reasons,) I shall proceed to a detail of the Hy- 
dropathic mode of curing disease. 

For all those pages pointing out the way in which the 
cure is to be effected, I am indebted to a highly ap- 
proved work, published in the German language, by 
Professor Munde, and translated into the French by 
Dr. Bigel, of Strasburg. 

Since Professor Munde was at Graefenberg, Mr. 
Priessnitz has made some slight deviations in his mode 
of treatment, such as not allowing the patients to per- 
spire so long or so often ; and some are of opinion that 
his general practice is somewhat milder. There is much 
difference of opinion amongst the visitors at Graefen- 
berg, as to whether this is advantageous or not ; but 
they seem, however, to agree, that though the time re- 
quired for effecting a cure may be somewhat longer, the 



j£2 GENIUS OF PRIESSNITZ. 

treatment is rendered less objectionable. In other re- 
spects, Mr. Munde's work was generally declared to be 
the best and most correct of any that had been written 
on the subject, up to the time of my departure from 
Graefenberg. 

1 . A Polish general, who had a complaint of the spine, 
on his arrival at Freiwaldau, was told by his friends 
who met him, as he descended from his carriage, that 
there was no doubt he would immediately throw away 
his crutches, and be perfectly cured if he followed 
the system. He sat talking with them on one of the 
seats outside the house, when Mr. Priessnitz came up 
on horseback ; he rose to salute him ; the latter begged 
him to be seated, and instantly said, " I perceive that 
the water cure will not be available in your complaint. , ' 
The general afterwards said that Mr. Priessnitz re- 
counted to him all his sufferings with the greatest exact- 
ness. The general, however, then answered, " Well, I 
may as w T ell die here, for I have tried all other remedies in 
vain ; but the most painful part of the matter is, that I 
have a young family, which I had hoped to have lived 
to see brought up." The other replied, "Although 
cold water will not cure you, it will relieve your 
pains, enable you to dispense with crutches, and will 
prolong your life ; but as } 7 ou regard these as advantages, 
avoid drugs." The general at once determined on re- 
siding there for some years. He is now cheerful, out of 
pain, and walks with the use of a stick. He is a per- 
sonage of such importance, that all visitors to Graefen- 
berg will at once know to whom this anecdote alludes. 

2. Baron ■, an Hungarian nobleman, though 

of a powerful frame, was in an exceedingly bad state of 
health : amongst other things, his eyes were so affected 



CASES OF CURE. 133 

that he had but slight hopes of saving either of them, 
although no inexperienced person would have supposed, 
from looking at them, that there was anything the mat- 
ter with them at all. On his arrival, a friend took Mr. 
P. to the window, and began giving him an account of 
the baron's complaints, and touched upon the subject of 
the eyes, upon which Mr. Priessnitz turned round, 
looked at the baron, who was at least four yards from 
him, and said, " I see he has lost one eye entirely, but 
the other will be completely restored." The baron 
commenced the treatment, and shortly lost his sight 
entirely, and with it all hope. On Mr. Priessnitz 
going to see him, he said dolefully, " Now the world 
has no longer any charms for me — I shall never see 
again." " Not so," said the other, " in two days your 
sight will return, and from that moment it will become 
stronger, until you will be able to see with that eye as 
well as I can with mine." The event occurred as pre- 
dicted. The baron is now considered one of the best 
shots there, and his health, in all respects, is daily im- 
proving. 

S. Count ■ • corresponded with Mr. Priessnitz 

through a general (a friend of his) at Graefenberg. 
From the count's statement, it was concluded that Hydro- 
pathy would effect a cure of his disease, and this induced 
him to undertake the journey. Mr. Priessnitz, on seeing 
the invalid in the apartment of the general, instantly 
doubted the paper statement of the case, and requested 
him to walk as far as the window ; this the count did ; 
whereupon Mr. P. declined undertaking the cure. After 
the departure of the invalid, the general, who was on 
intimate terms with Priessnitz, inquired why he had 
refused his aid. " Because," said he, "instead of it 



']g4 CASES OF CURE, 

being as stated to me, it is one of those incurable 
cases, so far advanced, that the poor gentleman will 
not be living in three months." A prediction which 
proved too true ; for he died at Vienna, whither he 
went to consult some eminent physician, shortly after 
quitting Graefenberg. 

4. A lady and her daughter, on alighting from their 
carriage at Graefenberg, were accosted by Mr. Priess- 
nitz, who, on being informed by the mother, that the 
faculty thought her daughter in a consumption, re- 
quested the young lady to run a few paces up the hill. 
On returning to where they stood, he said, " She is not 
in a consumption, though there is a strong tendency to 
it in the system.'* This young lady gained flesh and co- 
lour daily, and was perfectly cured in a few months. 

5. The Marquis D , a French nobleman, accom- 
panied a friend on a visit into Galicia, six weeks before 
I left Graefenberg. Almost as soon as they arrived a 
dysentery broke out, which carried off great numbers 
in the neighbourhood, and finally, a gentleman who 
was on a visit in the same house. This so alarmed the 
marquis's companion, that he also had the dysentery, 
upon which he declared his conviction, that unless they 
left immediately, he should follow his friend to the 
tomb : upon this they quitted for Graefenberg. 

This gentleman told me, that he never thought it pos- 
sible any human being could endure what he had for 
forty-eight hours, the time required for the journey ; but 
notwithstanding that, on arriving within the confines of 
Graefenberg, he said jokingly to the marquis, "Now I have 
nothing more to do with it; now it is Priessnitz's affair." 
They arrived in the night, and sent, without loss of time, 
to call Mr. Priessnitz up, who, as soon as he understood 



CASES OF CURE. 185 

what was the matter, in his cool, confident manner re- 
plied, " Das ist nichts," or, it is a mere nothing. In a few 
days the patient was perfectly recovered. The marquis 
soon after, also fell ill of the same complaint, and then 
he also experienced the beneficial effects of Hydropathy. 
All persons who may next year go to Graefenberg, will 
easily discover to whom this statement alludes. 

5. A lady, who for some time had had such in- 
tense pain in her gums as to destroy her rest, and who, 
on catching cold, was generally laid up with an affec- 
tion of the chest, after beginning the cure for about 
six weeks, had a boil break out in the lower part of her 
face, and became otherwise feverish and weak : this was 
just as Mr. Priessnitz expected. Several friends of the 
husband of the lady persisted in representing to him the 
impolicy of allowing his lady to continue the cure, as 
they were sure her chest was affected. Hereupon the 
husband went to Mr. Priessnitz, and stated his fears, 
when the latter said they were groundless, but that to 
satisfy him he would then go and see the wife : this he 
did ; but he asked no questions, felt no pulse — merely 
talked two or three minutes, and then declared that 
her chest was perfectly sound, but that she must have 
had some complaint which had settled between the 
chest and throat, but that now that and the pains of the 
gums would pass away through the boil on the face. It 
immediately struck the parties that she had for a long- 
time suffered from influenza, which confirmed Mr. 
Priessnitz's observations. From that time forward this 
lady gained flesh, and her health soon became perfectly 
established. 

6. An English medical man called the author's at- 
tion, at Graefenberg, to an individual about sixty 

M 



Jgg GENIUS OF PRIESSNITZ. 

years of age, who passed them as they were talking toge- 
ther, and said, that on his first arrival at Graefenberg, 
before he had the greatest confidence in Hydropathy 
himself, he was astonished one morning, at the great 
bath, on being accosted by that person, who said, " Doc- 
tor, this is a trying moment for me : I have been afflicted 
with asthma for upwards of thirty years, during which 
period I have hardly ever touched cold water ; and now, 
after having perspired for an hour, I am to plunge into 
the cold bath. Don't you think it is dangerous?" The 
doctor inquired, " Are you sure that Priessnitz ordered 
it ?" He replied in the affirmative. " Then," said the 
doctor, " you have no alternative ; so follow me :" upon 
which they both went into the bath. This man was 
perfectly cured of his asthma in three weeks. He staid 
at Graefenberg some months after this for some other 
complaint, during which time he never had the slightest 
return of his asthma. 

7. The daughter of a colonel in the Austrian service, 
who had sought medical aid and the waters of Germany 
in vain, came to Graefenberg ; she commenced the cure, 
and was soon in the crisis. The alarm this occasioned 
the mother, and her increasing attention to her daughter, 
brought on a severe fever. Both these persons were 
now treated at the same time, and both were restored to 
better health than they had ever enjoyed before. The 
colonel, who is upwards of seventy years of age, having 
obtained leave of absence for three or four months, 
proceeded to Graefenberg to his family. Besides some 
other ailment, he had been deaf for thirty years. He 
was delighted with the treatment, as it produced in 
him a degree of strength and buoyancy of spirits quite 
extraordinary. One day, sitting in the woods, he heard 



CASES OF CURE. J £7 

the rustling of the leaves and singing of birds : upon 
this he ran to Priessnitz, and, in the greatest delight, 
declared he had regained his hearing. " Ah ! " said the 
great man, " this is but temporary :" and so it proved ; 
for the next day he was as deaf as before. On another 
occasion, whilst at table, he heard such a clattering of 
knives and forks, such a buzz of conversation, that it was 
too much for him, and he was obliged to leave the room. 
This again was declared illusory. " But," said Mr. 
Priessnitz, " now it is quite certain, that if you stay 
three months longer, you will perfectly regain your 
hearing." The colonel's leave of absence having ex- 
pired, he could not do so, but said he would continue 
the curative method at home. 

8. The Prussian consul at Hamburg came to Grae- 
fenberg eighteen months ago : he had a complication of 
diseases, and a sore leg, which had dwindled to the size 
of his wrist, attended with pains too acute for human 
nature to endure. Amputation of the limb appeared 
inevitable, without any hope of his being cured of the 
disease which had produced it. He determined on going 
to Graefenberg by slow stages. It is painful in the ex- 
treme to hear his account of his suifering by the way — 
how often he thought he should die en route, and cheer- 
ing to hear the relief that was immediately afforded him 
by Mr. Priessnitz. His progress to convalescence has 
been slow ; but he is now so far recovered that no dif- 
ference is perceptible in the legs ; and, previous to the 
author's departure, he had the pleasure of seeing him 
join the maze of the waltz, with all the activity of 
the youngest person in the room. The stranger, on 
going to Graefenberg, if he has the good fortune of 
making this gentleman's acquaintance, (he will be there 

m 2 



185 CASES OF CURE. 

another year,) will be quite astonished at his account of 
the effects of water upon his children, who were sickly 
and weak in their spine and limbs, but who now are 
pictures of what children should be who are in perfect 
health. 

9. A delicate female came to Graefenberg to be 
cured of a liver complaint. The disease arose from 
inflammation in the liver, to cure which, by the allo- 
pathic system, she had been treated by mercury. Under 
Priessnitz's mode of treatment, in a short time, she had 
a crisis of boils, through which the mercury evaporated. 
Immediately after the boils had healed, the inflammation 
of the liver returned. " Now you may consider yourself 
cured," said Priessnitz ; and she was indeed cured in 
a few weeks, when the liver complaint left her, it is 
to be hoped, for ever. The evident cause of this dis- 
ease was either some injurious drug, or perhaps a cold, 
which had fallen on the liver and had caused inflam- 
mation. 

10. A gentleman from Galicia, forty -five years of 
age, told me that he came here to consult Priessnitz, 
and take a few baths, in consequence of some indications 
of gout which he suspected was coming on, on ac- 
count of his having indulged that year in the gaieties 
of the carnival. The gentleman was here six years ago, 
staid four months, and was perfectly cured of gout, with 
which he had been annoyed for many years, spring and 
autumn. Mr. Priessnitz assured him, that if he resorted 
to his former temperance, and used cold water, he would 
have no return of the complaint. 

B , a captain in the army, came here fifteen months 

ago upon crutches, with gout in his feet and hands. 
He was perfectly cured in nine months, and staid the 



CASES OF CURE. 189 

last six months to see if there was any probability of 
a return of the gout. He then left, fully satisfied that 
it no longer existed in his system. 

C , an officer in the army, came here to see a 

friend : he also stated, that five years ago he had been 
perfectly cured of gout in five months, 

D , aged sixty, had been confined to his bed 

for the greater part of several years : he came to Grae- 
fenberg, staid six months, and now follows the treat- 
ment at his own house. Since that period, for two 
years, he has never been confined to his house for an 
hour: his hands and feet he finds are resuming their 
original size and form. 

11. F., from Hungary, had been tormented with 
tic douloureux for five or six years : he was perfectly 
cured in four months. His lady, who had just reco- 
vered from fever, was so weak as to be hardly able to 
walk. The progress in strength which she made in a 
fortnight was quite extraordinary. She stayed six 
weeks, and was perfectly restored. 

I knew three persons at Graefenberg whose disease had 
settled in their legs ; in each case, amputation had been 
recommended by the faculty. These invalids have been 
at Graefenberg from fifteen months to two years, and 
all were nearly recovered when T left. 

12. An officer from Saxony, who was here for his 
pleasure, told me, that six years ago he underwent a 
most miraculous cure: that he had rheumatism, was 
deaf for two years, and otherwise diseased. In nine 
months his hearing and health were completely restored, 
and he had never had the slightest return of either of 
his complaints. 

Hheumatism. — A German prince, four years ago, lost 



J 90 GENIUS OF PRIESSNITZ. 

all power in his limbs. All pain left him in two months 
at Graefenberg. He stayed four months there after- 
wards, and had no return of his evil, nor has it ever 
made its appearance since. 

A countess, living 150 miles from Graefenberg, was 
reduced to the last extremity, having been confined to 
her bed for two years. Her husband came to Graefen- 
berg to consult Mr. Priessnitz. The latter sent off 
immediately one of the women of his establishment for 
the countess, with orders to put her in a wet sheet, 
and change it often during the journey. This was done : 
she arrived almost a skeleton. In a week she was taking 
an airing in her carriage. In three weeks she was able 
to sit upright in her carriage ; and shortly after, began 
to walk in her chamber : she continued in this state 
when the author left, but she fully expected to walk 
out of doors in a fortnight. To see this lady on first 
coming, extended like a corpse in her carriage, in 
three weeks to see her propped up by pillows, and in 
six to see her upright and laughing, with flesh and 
bloom on her cheeks, was regarded by every one as 
something little short of a miracle. 

13. One object that interested me very much, was 
a gentleman, supported by two crutches, and led by 
a servant. On inquiry, I found he was a medical man, 
from Sweden ; that two days previous to the one when 
I saw him, he had had a fever : that during the day, Mr. 
Priessnitz had applied no less than eighteen wet sheets, 
and then the bath : in a week I was astonished to see 
this person going up to Graefenberg with the use of 
only a stick, and in ten days more he was as upright, 
and walked as well, as any body else. 

At a ball which takes place every week at Graefen- 



CASES OF CURE. \g\ 

berg, I saw an aged female using two crutches, and 
supported by a servant. I was informed that this lady, 
previously to coming to Graefenberg, had been con- 
fined four years, the first two years to her bed, and the 
last two years, not being able to support an horizontal 
position, had been supported day and night by pillows. 
She had only been here three weeks, and was then able 
to be brought into the ball-room. She made daily pro- 
gress, and, when I left, was walking out of doors with 
the use of a stick. 

14. A lady, from general debility, was brought to 
Graefenberg in a carriage, built on purpose, so that the 
sofa might be taken in and out. She told me, that for 
ten years she had not had the use of her legs : in two 
months, at Graefenberg, she was walking about ; though 
to eradicate the cause of her complaint, Mr. Priessnitz 
said she must stay twelve months. Not being a medical 
man, I do not know what disease this lady was labour- 
ing under. 

15. A man, from a violent cold, lost the use of his 
limbs ; he came here on crutches : in six weeks he was 
walking as well as other people. 

A Polish countess, from gout, and a complication of 
diseases, had lost the use of her feet and hands : she was 
so bad that Mr. Priessnitz refused her until she declared 
that she would not return home, rather preferring to die 
at Freiwaldau. Mr. Priessnitz, with his usual good 
nature, said he would try for some time ; at the end 
of six weeks, he constantly asked if she had no pains in 
the back : at length they arrived, and a large boil came 
in the back : when this broke, she, for the first time 
during eight years, was able to hold a pen, and wrote 
to her husband. 



19£ GENIUS OF PJRIESSNITZ. 

Any medical man who could have inquired into the 
different complaints of parties, might multiply cases 
almost ad infinitum : I merely give the above as coming 
within my own immediate observation, without having 
taken any means of collecting them. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HYDROPATHIC METHOD OF CURING DISEASES, 

As witnessed by Professor Munde, at Graefenberg ; confirmed by 
Dr. Bigel ; and ascertained to be generally correct, by the author. 

Gout and Rheumatism. 

Gout has different names according to the parts it 
affects. Thus it is denominated chiragra, when it 
attacks the hands : podagra, when it occupies the feet ; 
and gonagra, when it is established in the knees. 

It is thought to be caused by subtle fugitive acrimony, 
which some suppose to be a composition of lime and 
phosphorus, others from the acid of urine, whose acri- 
mony traverses, with the blood, all parts of the body, 
and occasions dreadful pain wherever it remains. 
These concretions are of a calcareous nature, as is seen 
by the sediment of the urine of those subject to gout, 
and the linen in which they perspire at Graefenberg, as 
they leave there traces of lime ; besides which, the boils 
which often ensue are critical deposits, containing the 
arthritic matter. 

The ancient physicians called gout the daughter of 
Bacchus and Venus. Truly persons devoted to these 
two divinities offer the greatest number of examples. 

Since I followed the water cure, I look upon medical 
treatment for gout as an act of insanity. Medicine is of 
no use in this disease, for, although it may bring some 



194 G0UT AN P RHEUMATISM. 

momentary relief, it is essentially hurtful, since these 
remedies almost always produce forced evacuations, 
derange the digestive organs, and favour the formation 
of a greater quantity of bad juices. I declare, with a 
perfect knowledge of cause, and a deep conviction 
founded upon numerable and notable facts, that the 
sudorific process, and cold water, are the only means 
of curing this disease. 

Warm and vapour-baths, aided by medicinal reme- 
dies, can produce perspiration, but they are weakening, 
and few constitutions can bear them. The process of 
Cadet de Vaux may be remembered, who said that 
gouty people should drink forty-eight glasses of hot 
water daily. What did this produce ? The drying up 
of the body by an immense loss of juices, the degra- 
dation of the most robust constitutions, and diseases 
much worse than gout itself. 

Priessnitz's method of cure unites all the advantages 
of the cure by warm water, without its inconveniences ; 
like the latter, it attacks and raises the vitiated juices, 
and expels them from the system with advantage ; 
it fortifies the system in hardening it, and by re- 
establishing the digestive functions ; whilst warm water 
ruins them completely. In fact, the cure of Graefen- 
berg requires only constancy and perseverance, according 
to the standing of the disease. 

Gouty subjects who could find no relief whatever in 
medicine, were those that Priessnitz cured the quick- 
est, however violent the disease. I have heard him say 
that eight or ten weeks were sufficient to cure them ra- 
dically ; the reason of which undoubtedly is the good 
state of the digestive organs, unimpaired by medicine, 
and, consequently, a less quantity of vitiated juices. 



GOUT AND RHEUMATISM, \Q§ 

Whatever may be the reason, it is very certain that 
the maintenance of the digestive organs in their normal 
state, is that which is most important to health. It is 
not with vomitifs and purgatifs, it is not with mercury, 
or mineral waters, of which they are so prodigal, that 
doctors preserve the integrity of the digestive organs ; 
they know this, and shut their eyes to the evil conse- 
quences of this debilitating system. 

The cure of gout requires the application of the 
whole treatment. It should be felt on the entire system 
before it is particularly applied to the parts afflicted. 
The first object to attain is by the sudorific process and 
baths to relieve that excessive irritability of the skin, 
which is the source of so much pain; adding to this, 
exercise in the open air. By degrees gouty subjects 
should leave off flannel next the skin, which they do in 
summer on the fifth day of the treatment, in winter a 
little later, and always without the slightest inconve- 
nience. When the invalid is not too weak, he may go 
immediately to the douche, which he must let fall 
equally upon all parts of his body ; but this must be 
used only for a few minutes ; it is only when he is 
enabled to sustain it easily, that he should expose the 
suffering parts to it, to put the humours which are there 
established in motion. 

The process of strong perspiration is of the greatest 
importance in cases of gout, particularly for those who 
have tried other remedies. Whilst enveloped in a 
woollen blanket, the patient ought to apply bandages or 
umschlags to the diseased parts, and to renew them 
according to the process indicated; few pass more 
than five or six weeks under the influence of this treat- 



\CQ GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. 

ment without having a crisis ; I mean to say without 
the sufferer being charged with eruptions or boils. 

At the appearance of the crisis, it is necessary for 
the douche to be moderated, in order not to augment 
the crisis ; the process of perspiring ought to be miti- 
gated, and the patient should remain a shorter period in 
the bath. It is often necessary to take only sitz-bath 
and foot-baths, particularly those subject to congestion of 
blood to the head, or when the gout is situated in that 
part. When the crisis is intense, it is sufficient to be 
wrapped in a wet sheet and use cold ablutions : on 
coming out of the sheet, it is better to avoid the use of 
the bath. 

The treatment thus mitigated is continued, except- 
ing where irritation approaches to danger, in which 
case it should be suspended, excepting the general 
fomentation, or bandages, which should be renewed 
day and night, and sitz-baths. These are sufficient to 
re-establish calm. 

I should not forget to warn the gouty subjects, that 
they should, during the whole of the treatment, drink 
a great deal of cold water. This liquid, taken abun- 
dantly, attenuates the humours anTl favours perspiration ; 
to which should be added as much exercise as can be 
taken, either by riding on horseback, or walking. Then 
sawing a block of wood, or, as a case of necessity, riding 
in a carriage must supply their place. But if obliged 
to stay at home, the quantity of cold water drank should 
not be lessened. Further, I knew an instance of gout 
in the head being cured by merely drinking water, and 
making ablutions of cold water, although the invalid 
was incapable of leaving his room. 

There are a great many gouty people whose gout is 



GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. \ 97 

not merely local, but is manifest in the whole of the 
body. When it exists in the upper regions, foot-baths 
are persisted in, to draw it to the inferior extremities, 
not forgetting to bandage the diseased parts, in order 
to disturb and put it in movement ; these baths should 
be taken once or twice a-day, for at least half-an-hour 
each time. 

It is a common case to see gout affect the lower 
extremities ; the feet are often the seat of the disease : 
cold foot-baths are a quick and powerful remedy. The 
water for the foot-bath should not be deeper than up 
to the ancles. The sister of a friend of mine, residing 
near Toplitz, suffered a long time pains in the foot 
and leg ; she tried many remedies, besides the baths 
of Toplitz, without the slightest benefit ; it even in- 
creased the disease to that degree that she could not 
walk. A violent paroxysm came on, during which she 
imagined the use of cold water might do her good : the 
first foot-bath that she took enabled her to walk ; 
encouraged by this success she renewed it, and was in 
a few days completely rid of the complaint. I saw 
her two years after, and heard her say she had not the 
slightest remains of her disease. 

When the gout is fixed in the hips, or any of the 
lower extremities, it is called sciatic gout. Sitz-baths 
being so efficacious, one should not be afraid on finding 
that they augment pain; this betokens a movement 
given to the arthritic humours. This is still more 
increased by applying the douche to the suffering parts ; 
the humour at last descends to the feet, where it has 
been drawn by the foot-baths, which should be alter- 
nately taken with sitz-baths. 

It is necessary to apply the douche strongly to the parts 



198 



GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. 



affected by gout, and to continually apply wet bandages, 
as well as to rub it very hard when in the cold bath ; 
also, if practicable, with the dry hand when wrapped 
up in the blanket to perspire. These frictions move 
and displace the morbid humours. The head is the 
only part which should not be subjected to the douche ; 
it is sufficient to apply bandages to it, particularly on 
the temples, where the pain is most acutely felt, and 
to take daily foot and sitz-baths, in order to attract 
the humours to the lower extremities. In this case 
the sudorific process should be shortened. 

We will now show the treatment of tic douloureux, 
which is itself a kind of gout; we have already said 
that the douche should not be applied on the head. 
The first thing is to water the whole of the body with 
cold water ; if this is insufficient, a sitz-bath should 
be taken for two hours, a great deal of water drank, 
and from the sitz-bath immediately to the foot-bath. 
This treatment is often sufficient to put an end to the 
paroxysm ; if, however, it does not. cease, place a cold 
wet bandage round the head, and take exercise in a 
place where the temperature is cold. The pain got 
rid of, the patient should keep quiet for some days, 
and abstain from perspiration ; during the days of relax- 
ation, a sitz-bath must be taken one day, and a foot- 
bath the next, and wet bandages frequently renewed 
to the afflicted parts, not forgetting to drink plentifully 
of cold water ; it is necessary to take exercise in the 
open air after each bath. This is the way I treated 
the dreadful nervous tic which had almost reduced 
me to despair, and at last triumphed. I must 
confess that I made a firm resolution to execute all 
the requisite operations during the advancement of the 



G.OUT AND RHEUMATISM. \ 99 

disease. But what is not a man capable of undergoing, 
who wishes to live ? Those who are attacked by the 
gout, should have immediate recourse to ablutions and 
sitz-baths : the paroxysm is thus always shortened, and 
sometimes stopped on its first appearance. This treat- 
ment is so far advantageous, that the day after, or even 
the same day, the patient can be exposed to the open 
air, without running the risk of a relapse. This is an 
advantage which belongs to no other treatment. 

Between the paroxysms, persons afflicted with ar- 
thritic pains in the head, would do well to take head- 
baths, to put the gouty humour in movement, and 
disengage the head from it, which often happens in the 
shape of an abscess in the ear. Whatever pain these 
abscesses may cause, the head-baths, and cold fomenta- 
tions or bandages on the part affected, should not be 
neglected. Their opening causes great relief; if they 
do not open, it is because the humour has been expulsed 
by perspiration. 

Head-baths should only be employed when the treat- 
ment has already affected the whole system, in order to 
avoid too great a reaction in the superior organs. As 
to the pain caused by the formation of the abscess, 
which is determined by the head-bath, it differs essen- 
tially from that characterizing the tic nervous; it has 
much less acuteness, although it troubles the sleep for 
some nights ; it is more pungent than destroying, fa- 
tigues the teeth and temples, and is continually drawing 
towards the ear. 

I shall not end this chapter on gout in the head 
without warning the invalid, that a strict observance of 
the regimen at Graefenberg is for him one of the most 
important duties : any working of the mind would be 



200 GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. 

prejudicial to the body, so shaken by the sudorific pro- 
cess ; the exercise of the mind would contribute to the 
general state of irritation. I have already said this 
process should be mitigated; I shall add, that it were 
better to perspire every other day. But how, it will be 
exclaimed, support a life of such dressing and undress- 
ing ? I answer by asking whether any other treatment 
is less tedious and more efficacious ? There is one 
source from whence we may take courage ; it is in the 
sentence pronounced by medical schools, who have 
declared gout an incurable disease. 

All that I have said about gout and its treatment, 
equally applies to rheumatism, which bears such a great 
resemblance to it, that it is supposed to take the same 
origin, and often one is confounded with the other, 
therefore is the treatment the same ; which consists in 
abundant perspiration, the douche, and bandages on 
the parts affected.' 

The reader will perhaps be interested to read the 
recital of some of the cures of gout which were per- 
formed at Graefenberg during my stay there. 

A king's councillor had suffered for six years with the 
gout, which, after having affected different parts of the 
body, ended by settling in the feet, which were in- 
flamed, and remarkably red. Foot-baths, in a hot de- 
coction of plants, ordered by the faculty, so increased 
the pain, that the invalid, reduced to despair, had re- 
course to cold water ; repeated cold foot-baths, after 
some days, caused the inflammation and redness to dis- 
appear. Astonished by the happy effect of cold water, 
he came to Graefenberg, where he submitted to the 
treatment. Being 65 years of age, he was obliged to 
proceed with great care, therefore he only perspired in 



GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. £01 

the wet sheet, and did not take the douche. The re- 
mainder of the treatment was not altered ; at the end 
of two months he went away radically cured. 

A clergyman arrived at Graefenberg, who had the gout 
in his hands and feet to such a degree, that he could 
not use them ; fifteen days after he had commenced the 
treatment, boils appeared ; this was a sign of the quick 
termination of the disease ; but something important 
occurred to render it necessary for the invalid to return 
home after only six weeks' treatment ; this was during 
the time of the crisis. He continued the cure at home, 
and in six weeks after his return home, was not only 
perfectly cured of the gout, but of an asthma, from 
which he had suffered a long time. 

A little girl, seven years of age, suffered from the 
time she was one year old, with pains in the chest ; 
after having tried medicine in vain, her parents took 
her to Graefenberg. Priessnitz immediately said it was 
rheumatism, and that he would undertake the cure : he 
ordered a cold wet bandage to be worn on the chest ; 
fever was the result, and an increase of the pains. The 
child was wrapped in a wet sheet, which was changed 
several times during the day ; each time that the sheet 
was changed, she was washed with tepid water ; fright- 
ened by the fever, which continued during ten days, 
the parents then remembered that the doctor who had 
sent them to Graefenberg, said, if the treatment in- 
creases the disease, it must be discontinued immediately. 
They then resolved to take their child home directly. 
For this journey they were obliged to fetch a convey- 
ance from some distance. During the two days they 
were gone, the crisis ended, and the child was so well, 
that, on its parents' return, they found it playing in the 

N 



2Q2 GOUT AND RHEUMATISM. 

fields. The treatment, persevered in for some weeks 
longer, perfectly re-established the little invalid's health. 

A clergyman, on coming from a baptism at some dis- 
tance from home, returned with a cold, and a stomach 
overcharged with food. The same day he was attacked 
by rheumatic pains in the back and arms, no doctors 
being able to cure him ; this state lasted for a year. 
He then determined to go to Graefenberg, when, after 
having drunk, perspired, and bathed for three weeks, an 
eruption took place all over the body, which delivered 
him from pain. The continuation of the treatment 
cured the eruption, as well as a difficulty of breathing, 
which was complicated with his rheumatism. 

Arthritic pains, after being endured for twenty-six 
years, forced a major of cavalry to leave the service : hav- 
ing tried the water cure at home, he found that it did 
him so much good, that he went to Graefenberg. He 
remained there fifteen months, when he was radically 
cured, and afterwards rejoined the army. 

A doctor who had had sciatic gout for five years, in 
the left leg, which was very much swelled, and quite 
black, went to Graefenberg, where, after three months' 
treatment, such a number of boils came out, that he was 
no longer able to walk : after some time, these boils 
closed, and left the invalid in a perfect state of health. 

Through a cold, taken on coming out of the theatre, 
a person was all at once deprived of the senses of smell 
and taste : and, after a treatment of four months at Grae- 
fenberg, was perfectly restored by an abscess in the 
head, which opened in one ear. 

Some days after my arrival at Graefenberg, a case of 
deafness had been cured by a similar abscess in the ear : 
nine months were required to cure this obstinate dis- 



INFLAMMATORY FEVER, ETC. 203 

ease. The invalid thus cured has, in gratefulness, writ- 
ten a work on the method of curing at Graefenberg. 

Inflammatory Fever, Nervous Fever, fyc. 

Inflammatory fever, as well as all kinds of acute 
fever, are certain to be cured by the use of cold water, 
generally, through the medium of fomentations ; viz., 
the wet sheet and sitz-baths, renewing the one and the 
other, according to the malignity of the disease. Some 
doctors have contested the possibility of curing the 
nervous typhus fever with cold water. I shall answer 
by referring them to the writings of doctors Curry, 
Reuss, Mylius, and Weigt, when they may be con- 
vinced of this truth. They will, perhaps, honour the 
testimony of the medical men alluded to, with some 
credence, as those professors of medical science have 
cured thousands by following up the cold water system 
in such cases, I shall illustrate the treatment by relat- 
ing two cases of this disease, which I witnessed during 
my stay at Graefenberg. 

Soon after my arrival there, I was attacked by a 
strong fever. I first took a foot-bath, then a sitz-bath, 
wherein I remained for an hour. A friend of mine, 
seeing the fever augment, and my face get quite red, 
was frightened, and ran to Priessnitz, who came to see 
me at nine o'clock at night ; he immediately placed me 
in a wet sheet, which was renewed in half an hour. I 
remained in it for an hour, during which time I slept, 
as Priessnitz had predicted, after which I was washed 
with cold water, and again placed in the wet linen, 
where I soon began to perspire abundantly, and to feel 
much relieved : I there slept until three o'clock in the 

n 2 



£Q4< NERVOUS FEVER, ETC. 

morning, when I was again washed, and replaced in the 
wet sheet. I then began to perspire once more, until 
six o'clock, when, covered with perspiration, I was 
plunged into a cold water bath, where I remained but 
a few moments. I then went out to take a walk, and 
returned at eight o'clock to the breakfast table, exempt 
of all fever, heat, or even weakness. 

I have often since seen this process employed on 
children attacked by strong fevers, and always with 
great success. It often happens that the fever is ob- 
stinate, and lasts longer than usual. The treatment 
should then be sustained until it has destroyed the cause 
of the disease. 

The time which a nervous typhus fever lasts, and its 
pernicious consequences, are well known. What a 
difference is there between the results of drugs and 
water ! Such are the miracles performed by Hydro- 
sudopathy. 

There is a case which did not occur to myself, but of 
which I was an eye-witness. A merchant was attacked 
by nervous fever and delirium. The illness began by a 
sensation of burning in the stomach, which soon caused 
sickness. He took a sitz-bath, which did him no good. 
As the head-ache and sickness augmented, he drank 
water until he vomited, which relieved him : neverthe- 
less, in an hour, (ten o'clock at night,) the invalid be- 
came worse, and lost his senses. In this state he ran 
all over the house, with a light in his hand. From time 
to time his reason returned, and he was astonished to 
find himself thus ; but the delirium soon came on again : 
thus he passed the whole night. It was only at nine 
o'clock the next morning that Priessnitz, hearing of the 
event, came to see him ; he found him in bed, his eyes 



NERVOUS FEVER, ETC. 205 

staring, his mouth open, his tongue dry and burning* 
and totally deprived of his senses. Priessnitz immedi- 
ately ordered a sitz-bath, in which the patient remained 
for half-an-hour, and had him rubbed with cold water. 
After this, the invalid was placed in a wet sheet, which 
was renewed every ten minutes ; in an hour he took 
another sitz-bath for half-an-hour, and was again placed 
in a wet sheet. He soon began to perspire, and gave 
evident signs of being relieved. These operations were 
continued until evening, when his reason returned. He 
slept all night ; in the morning he was in a great state 
of perspiration but quite free from pain. At eight 
o'clock in the morning he asked for something to eat, 
and received bread and milk; and for dinner he had a 
soup made from meat, with barley in it. The remain- 
der of the day was passed quietly ; the second and third 
nights were passed nearly in the same way as the first. 
On the fourth day he tried to take a cold bath, but was 
seized with shooting pains in the head, he therefore 
took a tepid bath at the temperature of 61° Fah- 
renheit. This illness began on the 8th of September. 
On the 14th of the same month, the invalid was out to 
dinner, at which he partook of every thing he found upon 
the table. A few days after this he quitted Graefen- 
berg perfectly cured. There had been a similar case at 
Graefenberg a few days before my arrival, 'the termina- 
tion of which was equalty fortunate. I was informed of 
this by some invalids who had preceded me. Priess- 
nitz says, that this disease, taken in the commencement, 
is easily and quickly cured ; later it requires more time. 
Nevertheless, whatever may have been its duration, cold 
water is always efficacious. 

During the author's stay at Graefenberg, several other 



206 CANCER. 

most extraordinary cases of fever occurred. One man 
was kept in the half bath for nine hours and a half, two 
other individuals were put in between forty and fifty 
wet sheets in the course of twenty-four hours. We 
need hardly add that success attended all these opera- 
tions ; because we affirm that Mr. Priessnitz in cases of 
fever is never known to fail. 

Intermitting Fever. 

This disease appears every year in the fortress of 
Neustadt and Cassel, in the Prussian territories ; the 
invalids come every year in great numbers to Priess- 
nitz, who quickly cures them, by placing them, during 
the paroxysm of the fever, in a half bath, for long or 
short periods, during which time they are well rubbed 
with cold water. They use a sitz bath, and drink plen- 
tifully of cold water, until it causes them to vomit, or 
produces relaxation ; and a cold wet bandage is placed 
upon the abdomen, which produces perspiration. This 
is all the treatment necessary for a disease which fre- 
quently resists quinine, the specific remedy, and all the 
other drugs and specifics which medical men employ 
against it. 

Dropsy. 

This is one of the diseases, when of long standing, 
that cannot be cured at Graefenberg. When in its in- 
fancy it is curable. The treatment consists in perspi- 
ration and cold wet bandages, applied to the parts 
afflicted. 

Cancer. 

I shall doubtless astonish my readers when I assert 



CANCER. 207 

that cold water is the most certain cure for cancer: 
this is nevertheless true. The treatment is the same 
as that of ulcers, with the exception of the employment 
of perspiration. For cancer, the invalid should per- 
spire for a longer period every day. One remarkable 
case which I witnessed at Graefenberg was that of an 
invalid who had formerly suffered from a chancre in the 
mouth, which was cured, but the disease not eradicated. 
Some years after, an abscess formed on the left instep. 
After nine months of medical treatment, the doctors 
found that they could not prevent the disease entering 
the bone. It at length became so serious, that no other 
resource was left but amputation. This the invalid re- 
fused to submit to, saying he would go to Graefenberg. 
The doctors endeavoured to dissuade him, but he per- 
sisted in his resolution, which, however, he only carried 
into execution after remaining nine months in the hos- 
pital, where he became a skeleton, and so weak that he 
could not walk a step. Three weeks after his arrival 
at Graefenberg, he could walk with the assistance of a 
stick ; the ulcer alluded to cured ! ! Another appeared 
on the right foot, which kept the invalid confined to his 
room six weeks. At length the cure was effected, and 
the ulcers disappeared altogether. One would scarcely 
believe that a patient, who was reduced to skin and bone, 
should, during this treatment, become so stout, that his 
clothes would not fit him, notwithstanding his having 
perspired for some hours every day : yet such was the 
fact. There is nothing to fear in the cold water treat- 
ment ; for although a quantity of the juices are lost by 
perspiration, they are more than replaced. By means 
of the enormous appetite possessed by all the invalids at 
Graefenberg, they not only gain that which they have 



208 CHOLERA. 

lost, but acquire new strength. This is not the case 
with any other method of perspiration. 

On the arrival of the invalid last alluded to, Priess- 
nitz praised him for having refused to submit to ampu- 
tation, which could not have cured him, the cause of 
his disease being syphilis. This case required alto- 
gether nine months to cure. This is certainly a long 
time ; but previous to that, the invalid had passed the 
same time in an hospital, where, after being tortured 
by drugs, hot rooms, &c. his misery was rendered com- 
plete by the doctors declaring, that nothing remained 
but amputation. 

A lady had a cancer in the breast : the disease con- 
tinued to increase, in spite of ail the remedies, internal 
and external, applied ; at last amputation was proposed, 
to which the invalid agreed. On seeing the instru- 
ments, she fainted ; the operation was postponed till 
the following day ; in the interim, some one spoke of 
Graefenberg, where she determined to go. After fol- 
lowing the treatment there for six weeks, the breast 
became so much better, that she returned home, 
where Priessnitz advised her to continue the cure, 
which was soon crowned with complete success. 

Cholera. 

The treatment of this complaint depends much upon 
the constitution of the patient, and of the nature of the 
attack. The temperature of the water ought to be 
higher when the constitution is weak, and the sweating 
less. When the invalid is deprived of sense, the treat- 
ment should commence with cold clysters ; the patient 
attacked with vomiting and stools, alvines douloureuses, 
should be placed in a sitz-bath of the temperature of 



CHOLERA. 209 

62 degrees. If, at the same time, he has headache, a 
cold fomentation should be applied, some one should 
continually rub the stomach and the abdomen, whilst 
another rubs the back, the arms and legs, with the hand, 
which should be often dipped in cold water, and this 
rubbing should be continued until the natural heat is 
established in the skin. The patient must drink large 
quantities of cold water, this puts an end to the vomit- 
ing or looseness. It produces both in the case of an 
invalid, who is not attacked by it, and by continuing it, 
it causes the evacuations to cease. There is no other 
disease wherein it is so necessary to drink abundantly of 
cold water. I witnessed a case of cholera where the 
patient drank thirty glasses of water in one hour. Priess- 
nitz effected a cure in three days. 

When the symptoms are abated, the patient should 
be placed in bed, and there rubbed continually with a 
dry hand, until the heat returns in the body, which 
should then be made to sweat well. When the perspi- 
ration appears, the invalid may be considered cured. 
On the re-appearance of symptoms, the same process 
must be resorted to. When perspiration takes place, 
the windows should be thrown open for any time the 
patient pleases ; he then ought to be placed in the bath, 
and afterwards, if strong enough, should take exercise 
in the open air, and not omit to wear a bandage on the 
stomach continually. The use of cold water internally, 
is indispensable during the sudorific process, and it 
should also be continued afterwards. 

In case the invalid be exceedingly weak, he should be 
kept in the most perfect repose, which tends very much 
to the re-establishment of exhausted strength. But 
if the invalid's constitution be robust, the water he uses 



210 CHOLERA. 

should be quite cold, and he may fearlessly be made 
to perspire abundantly. The disease should be treated 
with the same energy when it arrives at its climax. In 
the first attacks of this disease, the treatment is fol- 
lowed by such success in so short a period, that it 
astonishes ; but it has not the same effect when the 
disease has been neglected in the beginning ; however, 
with patience and perseverance, it is even then sure of 
success. 

I shall finish this chapter by the following remarks, 
which I recommend to the reader's attention : — Although 
water was intended to be drunk, it should also be used 
in baths and ablutions ; the fresher it is the better. 
Should it be necessary to raise the temperature of the 
water, a little hot water can be mixed with it. The 
cure of cholera can only be effected by re-producing 
perspiration ; this great function cannot be animated 
but by rendering that energy to the organs of the skin 
which it had lost, and which is only gained by the 
irritation caused by cold water. 

Water should be kept at an equal temperature to 
sustain this salutary irritation ; care should also be 
taken to renew the water in the bath when it becomes 
heated. 

When the invalid is placed in the bath, the water 
should just reach the navel; to obtain this height, the 
Extremity of the bath should be raised the opposite to 
where the patient is seated. The thighs and legs being 
out of water, should be energetically rubbed to bring 
back the heat. 

It will easily be understood, if the water of the bath 
were too cold it would be dangerous ; if reaction did 
not take place death might ensue. The temperature 



CHOLERA. %\ I 

of the water should, therefore, be proportioned to the 
remaining strength of the invalid. 

The fomentation should be of a heating nature. 

The ablutions should not be made longer than neces- 
sary to refresh the heated parts, as they are employed 
after the sudorific process ; that is to say, for three or 
four minutes. 

If the lower extremities are attacked by cramps, 
they should be placed in water, and well rubbed until 
the cramp ceases. 

For violent pains in the stomach, cramps in the intes- 
tines of the bowels and frequent stools, evacuations al- 
vines, alternate clysters and sitz-baths should be used. 

Any one attacked by cholera should eat little, take 
no milk, and drink water abundantly. 

The cold water treatment should be continued for 
a long time, as well to evacuate the injurious humours 
which might remain in the body, as to restore strength. 

Priessnitz, in his establishment, has successively 
treated seventeen cases of cholera, and has cured them 
all in a few days. I did not myself witness these facts, 
they were related to me, but the following case took 
place during my stay at Graefenberg. 

The inspector of a large village belonging to the 
crown arrived at Graefenberg ; he had been ill for six 
weeks, but being of a robust constitution, he had during 
that time resisted ail symptoms of cholera excepting 
sickness. He was much astonished at being ordered to 
drink milk, and eat bread and butter, which he did at 
Priessnitz's, as he placed entire reliance in him. After 
this repast, he returned to his room, where he found a 
sitz-bath at the temperature of about 55 degrees Fah- 
renheit, already awaiting him. He was still more asto- 



212 DYSENTERY. 

nished, when, after some minutes a discharge of wind 
greatly relieved the pains of the stomach. On leaving 
the bath, he went to bed, prior to which a heating 
bandage was placed on the stomach, and he slept until 
the following day. This was the first time of sleeping 
since the commencement of the disease. He was com- 
pletely cured, and returned home quite well. To dissi- 
pate all doubts which might be raised on the nature of 
this disease, I shall add the recital of the invalid on his 
arrival at Graefenberg. " The cholera," said he, " ra- 
vaged the village which I inhabited. The inhabitants 
were terrified, and refused to assist the sick ; they had 
also suspended all labour, expecting to die. Thinking 
it was my duty to set them an example, I visited all the 
sick, and touched those who were timid, to give them 
courage. This conduct produced the effect I had ex- 
pected, but it gave me the cholera, for which I was 
immediately treated by a doctor of the village, but 
without finding any relief; from thence to Vienna, 
without any better success. Graefenberg was my last 
resource : 1 went, and there regained my health." 

Dysentery. 

Colds, and the abuse of unripe fruit, are the princi- 
pal causes of this disease. It is composed of frequent 
evacuations of bloody glaires, accompanied with violent 
pains of the stomach, a burning at the anus, and spasms 
of the bladder; in other words, a constant desire to 
evacuate, without being able to render anything but 
glaires. 

The treatment is the same as that of diarrhoea. 



CHILBLAINS. 213 

Obstructions of Articulations. 

I witnessed three of these cases whilst at Graefen- 
berg. The first patient was a young man seventeen 
years of age, who was soon cured. The two others, one 
twenty-five, the other twenty-eight years of age, re- 
mained at Graefenberg from nine months to a year. 
All three owed their disease to a fall on the knee, which 
was the only part affected. Neither of them could walk 
without a stick. They finished the cure at home. 

The treatment of this disease consists exclusively of a 
bath for the diseased part for two hours, and the douche, 
which should be taken twice a day. During the bath, 
the leg should at times be well rubbed. 

When the disease is of long standing, it is necessary 
to add to these two means the sudorific process. It is 
seldom that the cure ends without boils or abscesses 
breaking out on the diseased parts. The douche should 
then be left off, and only recommenced when they have 
healed. Then the diseased part should be douched for 
twenty or thirty minutes : as this operation would be 
too long for the body, the latter must be well covered 
and protected from the splashing of the water. 

Chilblains, 

Priessnitz applies heating fomentations, or bandages, 
to the affected parts, which soon cure them, if the com- 
plaints are recent. If they are of long standing, the in- 
valid should perspire. It is rightly supposed that in the 
humours of the person there must be some vitiated 
juices, which are discharged by the diseased parts. This 
process accords with the general custom known of cover- 
ing a frozen limb with snow until heat is re-established. 



214 INFLAMMATION OF THE CHEST. 

Habitual coldness of the Feet. 

This is remedied by taking cold foot-baths twice a day 
for from fifteen to twenty-five minutes, and binding 
them at night in a heating bandage. A great deal of 
exercise should also be taken. Thus the distribution of 
blood returns to uniformity, and each part of the body 
receives its share. 

Foetid perspiration of the Feet, 

This is generally relieved by foot-baths, and wearing 
a heating fomentation or bandage on them at night ; but 
it is not cured without the sudorific process to purify 
the blood. 

Inflammation of the Chest. 

This disease is caused by a congestion of blood to the 
lungs, soon followed by an universal want of circulation. 

In this kind of disease, the first thing to be done is to 
refresh the blood, which is in some degree boiling, and 
to dissolve the obstruction and stagnation of this fluid 
in the affected parts. To obtain this, cold water should 
not be applied immediately to the parts affected. The 
impression of cold, adding to the already too great com- 
pression of the vessels, would increase the inflammation. 
The entire bath would also be hurtful, in sending the 
humours from the surface to the centre, and thereby 
overcharge the diseased member with a still greater 
quantity of blood. 

Sitz-baths are the most certain means of allaying the 
inflammation, by the property which they have of re- 
freshing the blood, and causing a strong reaction in the 



INFLAMMATION OF THE CHEST. 215 

lower extremities, which are far removed from the 
diseased parts, a reaction which takes the blood away 
from the afflicted organ. This operation should be 
effected in the following manner. 

The temperature of the water for the sitz-bath should 
be 60° Fahrenheit, and be renewed every half-hour, 
until the invalid feels feverish. This fever being pro- 
voked by the water, the symptoms of which usually are 
trembling of the limbs, chattering of the teeth, &c, the 
repulsive action of the sitz-bath should be seconded by 
the application of wet cold bandages on the chest, 
which should be thoroughly covered with these wet 
bandages, but not re-covered with dry ones. The 
bandages ought to be renewed from time to time. Care 
should be taken to cover the other parts of the body 
well, in order to give free circulation to the blood. It 
is also requisite to rub the extremities with cold water, 
whilst the invalid is in the bath. The hands only should 
be used in this operation, taking care to keep them 
damp. Directly you perceive that the hands and feet of 
the patient are warm, you may conclude that the mass 
of blood is refreshed, and the circulation become 
healthy ; the invalid should then be placed in bed, 
wrapped in a wet sheet, the property of which is to 
cause an irritation, in order to promote a still stronger 
circulation, not forgetting, whilst the invalid is in bed, 
to cover the chest with a cold wet bandage, so that that 
part of the body may be strengthened. 

When the disease is obstinate, it is sometimes neces- 
sary to renew the wet sheet and sitz-bath. Each time 
they are renewed the patient must be washed in water 
with the chill off. During the whole of the treat- 



2\Q SCARLATINA, MEASLES, ETC. 

ment, cold water should be frequently drank, but only 
in small quantities at a time. 

The advantages of this proceeding, which must be 
evident to all, are confirmed by the success which always 
attends the treatment of cases of this disease, which 
Priessnitz undertakes. These cures are always effected 
in a few days. Thus a remedy is found for a disease 
which has baffled all medical science. 

Scrofula, Rickets. 

These two diseases are also curable by Hydropathy. 
However, when rickettiness has entered into the whole 
development of the body, nothing can be done by water 
for the distortion of the limbs. The douche is the 
principal instrument in this cure, with the aid of the 
sudorific process, energetically employed. Wrapping 
up in a wet sheet is highly desirable. The cold-bath 
should be taken twice daily ; the articulations, and the 
glands if swollen, should be well rubbed, and bandages 
constantly employed. The glands of the throat and 
nose require frequent garglings, and sniffing water up 
the nose. 

It has always been recommended to ricketty people, 
to bathe in rivers under the current of the water ; as, 
for instance, under the waterfall of a mill. This some- 
what resembles the cure at Graefenberg. 

Scarlatina, Measles, Smallpox, 

The fever which generally accompanies these diseases 
constitutes their whole danger. Directly it is observed, 
the patient should be wrapped up in a wet sheet, there 
to remain day and night. If the fever is virulent, the 



AND SMALL POX. 217 

sheet should be renewed when it becomes warm. When 
the invalid perspires, the entire body should be washed 
with water at the temperature of 61° Fahrenheit, that 
is, not quite cold, and yet not tepid. This is a certain 
means of moderating fever, and the heat which accom- 
panies it. In this way, particularly with adults, the 
prejudicial results of these diseases, so common in any 
other mode of treatment, are prevented. 

It is not advisable to bathe the whole body with cold 
water : strong constitutions could bear it, but it is to 
be feared that reaction would not follow in weak per- 
sons ; if so, death would be inevitable. Fever is, as I 
have already said, the only danger to be feared in these 
diseases. It is its violence which closes the pores, and 
prevents the breaking out of the eruptive matter. The 
way to moderate it, and facilitate the eruption, is as 
already described, the efficacy of which is daily sanc- 
tioned by experience. 

Mr. Munde, in alluding to these maladies, says, " I 
will now mention three cures which, without medicine, 
and with nothing but cold water, I performed in my 
own family. The first is a case of measles in an adult ; 
the two others are of scarlatina in my two young 
children. 

" My servant, 20 years of age, caught the measles. 
As she refused all remedies, I proposed to her, in order 
to quiet the fever, which was very strong, that she 
should be wrapped up in a wet sheet ; having agreed to 
this, she soon began to perspire profusely : this deter- 
mined me to leave her there for seven or eight hours ; 
she was then washed with water at the temperature of 
61° Fahrenheit. This first perspiration was followed by 
an abundant eruption of red spots, which covered the 

o 



218 SCARLATINA, MEASLES, ETC. 

whole body. I repeated the same process the next day, 
when the fever completely ceased. The parents having 
learned how I was healing their daughter, immediately 
came to take her home, fearing that such a treatment 
might be attended with dangerous consequences. In 
twelve days the invalid came back to her service, assur- 
ing me that, whilst at home, she had taken no other 
remedy than cold water. 

" Two of my children, one eight years old, the other 
five, were attacked with scarlatina ; the eldest first. He 
was wrapped up in a wet sheet, whilst my other chil- 
dren, as yet unattacked, were repeatedly immersed in 
cold water. In three days, the one five years of age 
became ill ; no doubt because he had previously taken 
the infection. The others did not take it at all. The 
second little invalid kept his gaiety and appetite, and 
was not wrapped up in a wet sheet, but only washed all 
over, morning and evening. The fever with both was 
very moderate. All was going on according to my 
wishes, when my wife became so alarmed as to suspend 
the treatment for four days. The consequence was, 
that the fever soon redoubled its intensity, and the chil- 
dren were in such pain that they could not move. It 
was so violent at the back of the eldest's head, that 
inflammation of the brain was to be feared. By my 
wife's desire, who now saw the folly of her fears, I again 
began my treatment. This time I gave the invalid a 
sitz-bath, after which he was enveloped in a wet sheet, 
which I renewed every half hour. He soon went to 
sleep: this sleep lasted two hours, and gave proof of 
the efficacy of my proceedings, and courage to myself to 
go on with sitz-baths and general fomentations. The 
regular order of the system being re-established, I re- 



ERYSIPELAS. £19 

placed the invalid in his dry bed, where he slept for 
several hours. In two days all danger disappeared. 
On the tenth day of the disease, a total scaling of the 
skin came on. The invalid, excepting a little weakness, 
was perfectly cured. The illness of the youngest was 
so simple that he only required ablutions. He kept 
his brother company during the whole of his illness. 
Three weeks after the commencement of this eruption, 
I took them out walking in cold weather, without the 
walk being followed by any bad consequences. I how- 
ever must add, that two days previous to exposing the 
new, fine, and delicate skin to the fresh air, they were 
bathed, morning and evening, in cold water." 

Erysipelas. 

This disease is often produced by an effort of nature 
to deliver itself of a dangerous humour by the skin. 
Outward impressions, also, sometimes cause it. 

This complaint, which is only the reflection of an in- 
terior disease, should not be immediately subjected to 
cold ablutions, as that would repel the eruption which 
brings vitiated juices to the surface. In the ordinary 
treatment none but dry applications are resorted to, 
which are inefficacious. 

At Graefenberg the use of cold water for the treat- 
ment of this disease has never been known to have un- 
fortunate results. It is true it is not merely outwardly 
treated, as the entire body is subjected to the cure. 
The invalid should perspire in a wet sheet, drink a great 
deal of water, and apply heating bandages to the dis- 
eased parts. This treatment, which excludes all cold 
water ablutions, is always successful. 

o2 



220 INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 



Hooping Cough, and other diseases and indispositions 
in Infancy and Childhood. 

I believe I have already said that agitation, extreme 
heat, and feverish irritation in children, are remedied by 
the general fomentation of the wet sheet. The special 
irritation of the hooping cough is not so quickly cured 
by these means, but nevertheless it is much relieved. 
Care must be taken that the water drank at first 
is tepid ; afterwards it should remain half-an-hour in 
the patient's room, well covered up, when it may be 
drank. 

Inflammation of the Brain. 

This disease, which is as rare with adults, as it is 
common in infancy, either proceeds from internal causes, 
or from exterior injury. Its treatment only differs 
from that of inflammation of the chest, inasmuch as the 
cold fomentations on the head should be frequently 
renewed, as well as the wet sheet in which the invalid 
is wrapped. It is sometimes necessary to renew them 
every ten minutes. If the disease appears to get worse, 
the sitz-bath should be taken alternately with the wet 
sheet. 

I shall now relate a miraculous cure which was per- 
formed by this process in the little town of Freiwaldau. 
A labourer fell from a height, and having fractured his 
skull, inflammation of the brain ensued, and the invalid 
was entirely given up by the doctor of the place. 
Priessnitz visited him, and the next day he came to 
his senses, and, after some time, was perfectly cured. 



OPHTHALMIA, ETC. ggl 

Ophthalmia, or Inflammation of the Eyes. 

Inflammation of the eyes is generally catarrhal or 
rheumatic, and requires the same treatment as rheuma- 
tism and gout. I never saw it acute, but always chronic. 

To the rheumatic treatment, Priessnitz adds eye-baths, 
and the douche. The latter must be received in the 
joined hands ; from which, water coming from a height 
will rebound as high as the eyes. Head-baths are equally 
indispensable, as well as fomentations, to these organs. 
Chronic ophthalmia is, of all the diseases curable at 
Graefenberg, the most obstinate, and that which requires 
the longest treatment. 

A captain thus attacked, felt, after several head-baths 
which he continued for three quarters of an hour, a pun- 
gent pain in the head, accompanied by swelling of the 
ears. An abscess was expected in one of these organs, 
when the pain gave way to a virulent deposit, formed in 
the thick part of the cheek ; after this, the eyes were 
re-established. 

Another sufferer came to Graefenberg with* an exfo- 
liation in the corner of the eye. To the whole of the 
treatment, Priessnitz added eye-baths ; after each of 
which, the invalid was to look fixedly at the light, and 
immediately re- plunge the eyes into cold water. This 
man, who was perfectly blind on coming, was, on leaving 
Graefenberg, able to read with spectacles. 

A third patient presented a very remarkable case of 
blindness, the results of a cold, caught during hunting, 
by which he lost his sight. He had been nine months 
blind, when he arrived at Graefenberg ; after each pro- 
cess of perspiration, which he submitted to twice a day, 
the bath and the head-bath, matter, mixed with blood, 



%<£% ITCH, AND RINGWORM. 

came from the eyes. One might say that some pounds 
exuded from the eyes in the course of three weeks. I 
did not see the termination of this cure, before leaving 
Graefenberg ; but I can affirm, that the last time I spoke 
to the invalid, he could distinguish colours, and also 
objects at certain distances. 

Pain in the Eyes, and Weakness in these organs. 

Both these diseases give way to baths applied to the 
back of the head, aided by a bandage placed over the 
eyes, to be worn day and night ; to eye-baths, foot and 
sitz-baths, &c. This treatment generally meets with 
success. The bandages are requisite to remove the ex- 
cessive heat from the part attacked. Mr. Priessnitz has 
many ways of treating the eyes, which depend upon 
circumstances. 

Itch, and Ringworm. 

These diseases are more easily cured by cold water, 
than by any other means. The process of perspiration 
in the wet sheet, leads to success ; but ringworm is fre- 
quently more difficult to cure than the itch. It requires 
longer time, and a more energetic use of cold water. 
The douche is also indispensable in cases of ringworm, 
in order to bring the morbid humours to the skin. The 
most difficult ringworms to cure, are those which have 
been driven in by bad treatment. This disease is really 
equal to the gout, in point of obstinacy, for it reappears 
upon the skin after having used the douche a long time. 
After the process of perspiration, and cold baths too, 
it again shows itself under forms much more serious 
in their aspect, than in the beginning. We should 
here warn the sufferers from ringworm, that the diet 



MERCURIAL DISEASES. 22S 

prescribed at Graefenberg must be observed in all 
rigour. Three men, attacked with this disease, arrived 
at Graefenberg at the same time as myself; the first of 
these, after several years' trial of the principal mineral 
waters, recommended in this disease, which he had 
emplo3^ed without success. Having followed the treat- 
ment with energy for two months, he returned home re- 
solved to continue the treatment mildly all through the 
winter ; after which, he was to come again to Graefen- 
berg, to finish the cure. At the time of his departure, 
he was more than half cured, The two others remained 
at Graefenberg, one for eight months, the other six, 
both leaving it radically cured. The treatment of one 
of these was attended by an acidity rising in the throat, 
and by the vomiting of matter containing chalky sub- 
stances. The acidity of the throat was such, that it 
caused the tongue to be ulcerated. 

Both, after following the treatment some weeks, saw 
their ringworms reappear with greater malignity and 
more abundant suppuration, attended by the forma- 
tion of a great number of boils. Following these 
two cures with great attention, I was not surprised that 
Priessnitz insisted upon the use of the strong douches, 
which he directed to be applied to the hips of one of 
these invalids ; he wished a ringworm to appear that 
had been there formerly. After a time, it again 
showed itself, spreading as far as the knee, and looking 
very bad. It is but a few days since I received letters 
informing me that both the ringworms were radically 
cured. 

MERCURIAL DISEASES. 

Diseases arising from the use of mercury are those 



224^ SYPHILIS. 

which completely confound medical men. However 
extensive the ravages made by this poisonous drug in 
the system may be, the invalid has every thing to hope 
from Hydropathy, as no method known can be put in 
competition with it as an antagonist to mercury. This 
is a fact admitted by all doctors who have witnessed its 
effects. 

ULCERS. 

These require no other treatment than the bandages, 
and the sweating process, they being the principal instru- 
ments in their cure. The more ancient the disease, the 
more necessity is there for perspiration ; ulcers cicatrize 
of themselves, when the mass of blood is purged of 
heterogeneous humours. We must not be surprised at 
seeing them enlarge under the influence of the bandages ; 
if, however, this aggravation proceed too far, the ban- 
dages must be dry, and the wounds must be bathed 
afterwards in lukewarm water. 



Syphilis. 

At Graefenberg, by means of the sudorific process, 
Priessnitz cures syphilis in the surest and safest man- 
ner possible. I have seen it in all forms, treated and 
cured with more or less promptitude, according to the 
virulence, complication, and long standing of the dis- 
ease. Previous to commencing a cure of the disease, it 
is necessary to counteract the effects of mercury, which 
most patients have taken. What shall we say to the 
cures which medicine affects to have performed, when, 
at Graefenberg, we see, in almost all the cases where 



SYPHILIS. 225 

invalids had supposed themselves cured years before, a 
return of the same symptoms in the same part ? This 
phenomenon naturally destroys our confidence in mer- 
curial treatment. Many persons will doubt the possi- 
bility of curing this destructive complaint by simple 
water, and insist upon it that mercury alone is able to 
contend effectually with it. May we not ask, if the 
cures effected by the latter agent were radical, how it is 
that, after many years, the disease should reappear? 
From this fact we conclude that mercury has the pro- 
perty of enveloping the syphilic virus, rather than ex- 
pelling it from the system. That mercury may remain 
concealed a long time, we have daily evidence in the 
salivation which the water cure so often provokes at 
Graefenberg. 

Is it not rational to think that, in the majority of 
pretended cures, the disease is only the more firmly 
fixed in the system, by this metal ? Its escaping after- 
wards from the system, by means which we cannot 
always account for, leaves its prisoner at liberty, when 
the mercury again shows itself in the primitive forms 
that signalized its introduction. Whatever may be 
the nature of the disease, whether gonorrhoea, ulcers, 
chancres, buboes, &c, at Graefenberg the treatment is 
the same ; and that is, sweating, bathing, douching, 
fomenting bandages, and drinking water. Gonorrhoea, 
with a discharge, requires the constant application of a 
cold fomenting bandage round the part, and injection of 
cold water many times a day; to this must be added 
the sitz-bath for an hour or two, repeated twice a day. 
Great attention should be paid to diet. All aliments 
ought to be cold. 



22Q COMMON SORE THROAT, ETC. 

As we have not space to cite one-twentieth part of, 
not partial but radical, cures of this disease, performed 
during our stay at Graefenberg, we shall proceed. 

The Gripes, Catarrh, and Cold in the Head. 

To be quickly rid of these complaints, it is sufficient 
to perspire in a wet sheet, and then to wash the body 
with water of the temperature of 61 degrees of Fahren- 
heit, to assist perspiration. Much cold water should be 
drank whilst in bed. The gripes sometimes produce 
great heat in the head ; this is appeased by means of 
sitz-baths, and cold wet bandages upon the head. 
During my own treatment, and the time I was studying 
the water cure at Graefenberg, I frequently gave ad- 
vice to persons attacked with these complaints ; all 
those who followed it, avoiding physic, and living accord- 
ing to the diet prescribed, have applauded this method 
of treatment, and the promptness of the cure. For 
wind, and internal pains in general, take a sitz-bath, not 
quite cold, but more so than tepid, for an hour, twice a 
day, rubbing the abdomen well all the time ; to this add 
cold clysters once or twice a day, and wear a heating 
bandage round the waist. 

Common Sore Throat, Stiff Neck, or Cough. 

Gargle well and often with cold water, rub the throat 
and chest several times a day with the hand dipped in 
cold water ; wear a heating bandage round the neck 
and on the chest at night. Foot-baths and perspiration 
must be resorted to in obstinate cases. 



wounds. 227 

Quinzy and Inflammation of the Throat. 

Priessnitz orders fomentations or bandages of very 
cold water round the throat ; garglings of cold water, 
foot-baths, and much perspiration. A person who had 
previously been cured of the quinzy by mercury, had 
a second attack of this disease : the above treatment 
cured her. When to the disease, strong feverish irrita- 
tion is added, the invalid should be placed in the wet 
sheet. 

Pain at the Chest. 

When it is rheumatism its treatment does not differ 
from that of gout, which has been previously described ; 
rub the part well with a wet hand, and wear a large 
bandage or fomentation from the neck to the stomach 
at night. 

Sore Eyes. 

Place the back part of the head in cold water three 
times a day, ten minutes each time ; then use an eye- 
bath for five minutes, twice a day. After the eyes are 
closed in the water for about a minute, they should be 
opened for the other four minutes. At night a heating 
bandage should be placed at the back of the neck: 
this and the head-bath have the effect of drawing all 
inflammation from the front. In most cases foot-baths 
twice a day are highly beneficial. 

Wounds. 

Keep the wounded part in tepid water until it ceases 
bleeding, then put on a heating bandage ; when this 
becomes warm put another larger one over it, so that 



22g EAR-ACHE. 

it may extend far beyond the part afflicted. If the foot 
is wounded, let it remain in the water for an hour twice 
a day, to draw out the inflammation ; then apply the 
bandage night and day, but continue it up to or above 
the knee, in order to extend the circulation. 

Nose Cold. 

These colds are considered healthy, as relieving the 
system of some of the bad humours. To cure it, sniff 
cold water up the nostrils often, and wear a heating 
bandage on the forehead at night. 

Burns. 

Apply constantly to the part cold wet cloths, without 
a dry one over them. 

Deafness. 

Rub the body all over twice a day with a cold wet 
cloth ; wear a heating bandage over the ears at night, 
and drink plentifully of water : this process will very 
often relieve deafness ; but in obstinate cases, the whole 
treatment must be resorted to. 

Ear-ache. 

This disease requires the same treatment as inflamma- 
tion of the eyes; that is to say, the ears must be 
bandaged, and linen well wetted with cold water should 
be introduced into the ear ; and a similar bandage wc 
round the head : in case of obstinacy in the disease, the 
process of perspiring, and the cold water, are indis- 
pensable. 



FRACTURES. 229 

Tooth-ache. 

There is nothing more simple, and at the same time 
more efficacious, than Priessnitz's treatment for tooth- 
ache : two basins are filled with water, one of which is 
cold, the other tepid ; the mouth should be filled with the 
tepid water and held in the mouth till it begins to be 
warm, then change it ; during this, the hands should be 
dipped constantly in cold water, and with them violently 
rub the whole of the face, cheeks, and behind the ears ; 
this operation should be continued till the pain ceases. 
It is also good to rub the gums even until they bleed. 
I never saw tooth-ache resist this treatment at Graefen- 
berg : sometimes it is necessary to add cold foot-baths, 
the water not higher than the ankles. 

Sprains or Stiffness of the Joints. 

If a sprain injures, or any nail runs into the foot, 
apply foot-baths (tepid) thrice a day for half-an-hour or 
more each time. The sprain should be well rubbed. 
The water in the bath must come up a little above the 
part affected ; a Cold bandage should be worn day and 
night. If the wrist is sprained or the hand wounded, 
elbow-baths should be resorted to, and the arm ban- 
daged up to the shoulder : these bandages should always 
extend far beyond the part affected. 

Fractures. 

Either before or after the reduction of the fracture, 
there is no better means of keeping down inflammation 
than cold water. A cold wet bandage should be applied 
to the part ; this should remain an hour, and then a 



230 PILES - 

larger bandage must be applied to carry the inflamma- 
tion away from the part. For instance, if the leg be 
wounded, the bandage should be carried up the whole 
thigh. 

Piles, 

It is well known that piles are caused by an accumu- 
lation of blood in the vessels which water the large in- 
testine. These are closed or open, which means that 
they either let out blood, or are dry and confined to the 
swelling of the veins ; there is also a third sort, which 
discharges slimy humours. 

This is not a local disease. It is the visible part of 
a diseased state of the whole system, which is ex- 
pressed by a congestion of blood to the vessels of the 
abdomen. 

Its cure requires the most strict regimen, particu- 
larly abstinence from spices, spirituous liquors, and 
indigestible food. The treatment at Graefenberg, emi- 
nently cleansing and strengthening, is a radical cure 
for them. 

When the disease is taken at its commencement, it 
will give way to an easy regimen, the drinking of a 
great deal of cold water, fomentations on the abdomen, 
short sitz-baths, and a moderate sudorific process. 
But if the piles are already formed and running, the 
treatment must be more severe and of longer duration. 
Frequent sitz-baths, entire baths, and the douche, end 
by curing them. The sudorific process is indispens- 
able to expel the prejudicial humours, which are at 
once the cause and effect of the disease. The use of 
cold water externally, without the rest of the process, 
would probably, by leaving the vitiated juices in the 



DYSPEPSIA, INDIGESTION, ETC. £31 

system, transform the disease into another still more 
serious. 

At Graefenberg, I have seen blind piles open and 
disappear by degrees, leaving the body in a perfectly 
healthy state. I appeal to the testimony of all those 
troubled with piles, of what use are medicinal reme- 
dies ? a little relief, and never a cure. Doctors them- 
selves are forced to admit this. Several of them, aware 
of what is going on at Graefenberg, recommend, and use 
themselves, the cold water cure for this disease. 

Stitches in the Side. 

The treatment is the same as for the foregoing dis- 
ease, when the pleurisy is slight ; foot-baths and foment- 
ations, on the affected parts, are sufficient to cure it. 

Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Constipation, fyc. 

Costiveness is a prevalent inconvenience, and often 
becomes a disease. The causes are various ; the princi- 
pal are, a sedentary life ; the bending of the body during 
sitting ; the hardening of the liver, the weakness or 
atony of the intestinal canal : we must also add, the 
habit of drinking too little water. To cure it, it is 
necessary to take exercise, to drink a great deal of cold 
water, to wear a wet linen bandage on the abdomen, and 
two or three clysters daily, one immediately following 
the other, should it be requisite. Cold food should be 
taken, instead of warm; fruit should be plentifully 
eaten ; and care should be taken not to eat any thing 
greasy or heavy. When costiveness has continued for 
several years, add to this regimen, sitz-baths and foot- 
baths; douches, directed on the abdomen, correct the 
weakness of this part. 



^32 WEAKNESS OF THE NERVES. 

Inflammation of the Abdomen. 

The invalid attacked with an inflammation of the 
abdomen, should immediately take a shallow sitz-bath, 
where he will remain more or less time, according to 
the state of the disease ; the water of this bath should 
be tepid, or about 62° Fahrenheit. On leaving the 
bath, he should be enveloped in a wet sheet, after 
having a cold bandage placed on the stomach : both 
should be removed about twelve times in a day. Each 
time the bath is changed, the invalid is washed all over 
with cold water. In the mean time, the invalid often 
drinks cold water, in small quantities. If weak persons, 
women, or children, are thus treated, the water used for 
baths and washing should not be quite cold. 

Weakness of the Nerves. 

This disease is rarely relieved by physic, whilst at 
Graefenberg it is cured with certitude and promptness, 
whatever may be the cause. A lieutenant had his nerves 
in so great a state of irritation, that the least noise, the 
barking of a dog, the firing off a pistol, would cause 
such a head-ache that he would faint. To relieve this, 
he had accustomed himself to warm foot-baths. Tired 
of suffering, he came to Graefenberg, perspired a little, 
took every day two cold baths, besides head-baths and 
sitz-baths, as revulsive measures. This treatment was 
limited to three weeks, after which he continued his 
journey. He intended following up the cure at home : 
Priessnitz approved of his resolution, and advised him 
to walk a great deal ; to ascend the hills, to ride often 
on horseback, in order to fortify himself, also to be en- 
abled to bear fatigue. 



HEAD-ACHE. 233 

Another invalid came to Graefenberg with trembling 
in the upper part of the body, brought on by the ex- 
cessive use of spirituous liquors. He returned home, 
radically cured, after two months' treatment ; the change 
from wine to water was not followed by any accident. 

Hypochondria and Hysterics. 

A disarrangement of the nervous system, joined to 
the inaction of the functions of the abdomen, cause 
the invalid much uneasiness and discontent. These are 
the characteristics of this complaint. To cure which 
completely, it is necessary to follow the treatment at 
Graefenberg. This disease being moral as well as phy- 
sical, requires pure air, fine scenery, and society, a com- 
plete change in the manner of living, all of which exert 
a great influence upon the mind of the invalid. Who- 
ever has lived with hypochondriacs, must have remarked 
the irregularity of their appetite : one day they will eat 
too much ; the next not at all. The first advice given 
by Priessnitz is to drink plentifully of cold water during 
meals, in order to leave less space for food! 

Hypochondriacs quit Graefenberg contented with 
themselves : the only cases that have failed were those 
who left too soon. 

Head- ache. 

Head-aches are almost always cured by foot-baths and 
head-baths of fifteen minutes each. First, the back of 
the head, and then the sides, the first for ten minutes, 
the latter five minutes each, should be placed in the bath, 
then the head should be bound up in a cold wet linen 
bandage not covered by a dry one : much water should be 
drank to relieve the stomach, and exercise in the open 

p 



gg4 BLEEDING OF THE NOSE. 

air. Should the head-aches return it will be necessary 
to perspire and use cold ablutions. 

For perspiration, the preference should be given to 
the wet sheet, as it calms pain. I have seen at Graefen- 
berg and elsewhere, violent head-aches which had con- 
tinued throughout the day, cured by a cold foot-bath of 
one hour, aided by abundant potions of cold water. 

Tic Douloureux 

Is one of those diseases given up by the doctor, as 
well as the invalid. Scientific men say it is caused by 
a disarrangement of the nervous system, whence results 
an increase of sensitiveness and irritability ; some how- 
ever think it is in the humours, which contain an 
acrimony capable of irritating the nerves, and producing 
those dreadful pains which characterize this disease; 
both opinions appear to have some foundation. 

I nevertheless hold the first opinion to be the most 
reasonable, inasmuch as it is the beginning of the dis- 
ease to which the humours join their acrimony. There 
is, however, a Tic Douloureux purely nervous. On this 
the cold water cure is as inefficient as every other ; but 
that arising from the humours is cured at Graefenberg. 
I speak with a perfect knowledge of this disease, having 
suffered for three years, and having made observations 
upon several who suffered from this complaint : eight 
months' treatment, perseveringly followed, cured me, 
after trying all the remedies of physic in vain. 

Bleeding at the Nose. 

To stop bleeding of the nose, the throat and nape of 
the neck should be washed with cold water, and a cold 



WEAKNESS OF THE DIGESTION, ETC. 235 

wet linen bandage applied to the stomach ; cold foot-baths 
should also be taken ; if necessary, take a sitz-bath, and 
wash the body with cold water. It is also frequently 
stopped by placing a wet cold bandage upon the genitals. 

Weakness of the Digestion, and debility of the Stomach. 

These diseases arise from intemperance in eating and 
drinking. The abuse of beer in Germany undermines 
the health of many young people for life ; then comes 
the irregularity in the hours of meals, the hot eatables 
and drinkables, artificial food seasoned with spices, the 
abuse -of tobacco, above all, smoking after eating, and 
drinking beer plentifully whilst at dinner. To all of 
these causes we must add the abuse of drugs, particu- 
larly mercury, the diseases of the skin imperfectly cured, 
and more especially the want of ablutions, and drinking 
of cold water. 

The first means to be adopted towards curing a 
deranged stomach is to avoid the causes which are here 
enumerated. Substitute sobriety for intemperance, the 
simplicity of nature for artificial food ; neither take too 
much nor too little at fixed hours, preferring cold to hot, 
avoiding spirits of all kinds, also tea and coffee ; break- 
fast and sup upon cold milk, dine on meat and vege- 
tables, avoid all irritations of the mind ; do not wear too 
much clothing, which impedes circulation, and to this 
mode of living, add much exercise in the open air, wash, 
and drink water.. 

These rules adopted, a stimulating fomentation to 
cover the abdomen and lower part of the stomach should 
be worn. The patient must sweat lightly in the morn- 
ing, and take the cold-bath immediately after; in the 
evening take a sitz-bath, and during the whole time, all 

p2 



2gQ HEARTBURN. 

parts of the stomach and abdomen should be rubbed 
with wet hands. If you can procure the douche, so 
much the better, but must avoid receiving it on the 
stomach ; but if a douche cannot be procured, then 
the body can be sprinkled with cold water, beginning 
with the shoulders, and causing the water to descend to 
the abdomen. To these means add the drinking of 
cold water, taking care not to drink too much at a time, 
particularly at meals ; the best time for drinking water 
is before breakfast. Take a good deal of exercise, but 
moderate it in the evening, and avoid the great heat. 

I saw an invalid arrive at Graefenberg, who had taken 
a considerable quantity of mercury ; he had for several 
years felt pains in the stomach, accompanied by violent 
head-aches ; each returned every twelve hours, and de- 
prived him of all his faculties, more particularly his 
digestion. He had tried medicine in vain, without ob- 
taining the slightest relief. He was completely cured 
at Graefenberg, not only of his pains, and of his bad 
digestion, but his system was purified by sweating out the 
mercury with which it was saturated, which no doubt 
was the origin of his disease. His treatment was what 
I have described. 

Heartburn. 

The habit of eating too much, the use of greasy food 
difficult of digestion, and too sade nt ary life, are 
generally the causes of this disease. 

It is combated with success by drinking water early in 
the morning until you produce vomiting or even diar- 
rhoea, then the disease gives way quickly if it is not an 
old one ; if it is, it becomes chronic, and must be treated 
by sudorifics, baths, and ablutions. 



EPILEPSY. 237 

The burning liquid which rises from the stomach to 
the throat is often caused at Graefenberg by the abund- 
ance of greasy food with which the table is supplied. 
At the period of the crisis it frequently makes its appear- 
ance, at the termination of humours, of which part is 
discharged by the first courses. I was sharply attacked 
by it at this period of the treatment, and a diarrhoea, 
which I brought on by gorging myself with cold water 
during two days, completely cured me. 

Loss of Sleep. 
Sobriety at table, a great deal of exercise in the open 
air, and ablutions with cold water, are the most efficacious 
remedies for this kind of inconvenience. The ablutions 
should be made on going to bed; they are more effica- 
cious than baths. Sleeplessness in children is invariably 
cured by the application of the wet sheet. 

Epilepsy. 
Priessnitz does not undertake to cure this disease. 
He merely thinks that cold baths and cold water, drank 
in abundance, would somewhat relieve it. 

Diseases of the Abdomen. 
All diseases of the abdomen, by whatever name they 
may be called, are cured at Graefenberg. They are in 
general the result of congestion, empatement, and ob- 
structions of the organs which they confine, and of their 
weakness, which to dissolve and strengthen are the 
great objects to be attained, and for this the method 
adopted by Priessnitz is admirably calculated with the 
aid of water, air, exercise, and diet. At Graefenberg, 
I met with a vast number of invalids who for many 
years had not been able to obtain any evacuations, 



2S8 DIARRHCEA. 

except by the power of art ; these Priessnitz invariably 
relieved in less than a fortnight; no doubt the new 
mode of living, contributed very powerfully to it, and 
we cannot too often repeat the necessity which exists in 
this complaint of adhering strictly to the rules of diet, 
which are to take in the morning and evening cold milk, 
to abstain from all hot aliments, and to avoid all spirit- 
uous liquors and spices. 

Diarrhoea. 

When the diarrhoea is recent, it is. sufficient to drink 
cold water, to wear a fomentation on the stomach, and 
only to use food easy of digestion. Diarrhoea is very 
often the work of nature, to carry off prejudicial hu- 
mours, which you must not prevent ; if, on the con- 
trary, it is chronic accompanied by weakness, Priess- 
nitz's method is marvellously calculated to effect the 
cure. The sitz-baths are here particularly beneficial; 
they ought to be repeated three or four times a day, for 
half an hour each time. It is necessary to drink an 
abundance of cold water, and to use cold water injec- 
tions, eat little, take no exercise, and it is still better to 
keep the bed. During the time that I was at Graefen- 
berg, I saw an invalid arrive who had had a diarrhoea for 
six weeks, which had reduced him to a consumption. 
Priessnitz cured it in the course of a few days. In the 
chapter on cholera, there are chronic diarrhoeas, where 
the abundant evacuation of the glaires are alternate with 
constipation ; they are confined by a deep weakness of 
the intestines ; here cold injections are a great relief. 
These diarrhoeas are only to be cured by a long use of 
cold water, which will finally establish, and give a pro- 
per tone to the organs of the abdomen. 



CONGESTIONS OF BLOOD. ^39 

Nausea and Sickness. 

At Graefenberg, nausea and sickness, as well as dizzi- 
ness, are frequently produced, as the effects of the treat- 
ment. Nothing is used but a great deal of cold water as 
a beverage, until these symptoms disappear ; a relapse, 
though repeated several times, requires no other re- 
medy : to this is added, a strict abstinence from indi- 
gestible aliments, and great repose of mind and body. 
When nausea and sickness are a disease essential to the 
stomach, the whole treatment at Graefenberg is indis- 
pensable. The sudorific process and half-baths are of 
remarkable efficacy. 

Colics. 

These always give way to sitz-baths, fomentations, or 
bandages on the abdomen, clysters, and cold water 
abundantly drank, even when of a rheumatic nature. 

Congestions of Blood. 

Congestions of blood are generally to the head, and 
begin after meals, or hot and stimulating beverages, as 
well as after any extraordinary excitement. Persons 
subject to this complaint should abstain from either 
drink or food of a stimulating nature, eat moderately, 
drink a great deal of water at table, take a little exer- 
cise after meals, avoid all violent discussions, as well as 
physical or moral excitement; all occupations of the 
mind, immediately after meals, are hurtful. They must 
add to this regimen the use of cold water, as a beverage, 
also clysters and sitz-baths, where they should remain 
at least from half an hour to an hour, not forgetting to 



240 SICKNESS AND SPITTING OF BLOOD. 

put cold wet bandages on the head. Cold wet bandages 
should often be repeated on the diseased parts 9 to 
strengthen the inactive vessels, and give a tone to the 
weakened organs. Often a foot-bath and cold bandages 
are sufficient to cure the head. The cure of this disease 
is effected without the sudorific process, which would 
cause an overflow of blood to the head. 

Drowsiness. 

Drowsiness, which is subject to frequent returns, is 
often caused by bad digestion, particularly from over- 
charging the stomach. This is remedied by moderation 
in eating and drinking. On its appearance, a cold 
bandage should be applied on the abdomen ; two clys- 
ters of cold water should be taken daily, and much cold 
water drank, particularly in the morning. Entire baths, 
ablutions of the whole body, as well as head-baths, 
should be resorted to, after which the head should be 
well dried and rubbed. It is well to repeat the head- 
bath and friction on going to bed. After meals, instead 
of remaining at home, exercise should be taken, which 
prevents sleepiness. 

Sickness and Spitting of Blood. 

The bleeding of these organs can happen to those 
suffering with piles. Sitz-baths should be taken, and 
cold bandages worn at night on the chest. All kinds 
of irritation should be avoided, and entire repose of the 
mind and body observed. An abundant drinking of 
cold water is indispensable. Bleeding of the lungs, the 
effect of pulmonary consumption, is not curable by cold 
water. It is unnecessary to add, that great sobriety and 



LES FLEURS BLANCHE. ^1 

abstinence from all heating beverages should accompany 
this treatment. 

Hemorrhage, Uterine. 

In hemorrhages of the matrix, apply cold bandages 
to the abdomen, and if these are not sufficient, cold 
water must be injected into the matrix; to these 
means must be added an abundant drinking of cold 
water. This treatment requires the advice of some 
Hydropathic practitioner. 

Irregular Menstruation. 

Order is established in this important function by 
slight perspirations, general cold ablutions, sitz-baths 
and foot-baths, much exercise, and plentifully drinking 
cold water. Instances of cures of this complaint at 
Graefenberg are innumerable. 

Accouchement. 

Experience has demonstrated the utility of cold ab- 
lutions, and exercise in the plain air, to females who 
are enceinte; to this ought to be added simple diet, 
and the drinking plentifully of cold water : wine, coffee, 
and liquors should be avoided. Madame Priessnitz is 
accustomed, during the last six weeks previous to her 
accouchement, to take a cold-bath every day. To this 
she owes the happiness of a prompt and easy accouche- 
ment, and her speedy establishment in health. 

Les Fleurs Blanches. 
These find a certain cure at Graefenberg. Sitz-baths 



242 CRAMPS OF THE STOMACH. 

alone frequently effect the object ; but in general this 
bath should be aided by cold ablutions and exercise. 

Cramps of the Stomach. 

Cramp in the stomach is almost always produced by 
faults of regimen ; yet it is sometimes occasioned by the 
diseases of the skin being driven in, or through some 
organic fault of the stomach. This defect is generally 
cancerous, and leaves little hope of cure. 

Persons attacked with cramp in the stomach ought to 
use cold food, wear constantly a fomenting bandage on 
the stomach, perspire every day, take two or three sitz- 
baths, and drink abundantly of cold water, particularly 
whilst in pain, carefully avoiding warm drinks, and all 
reflections which would lead to melancholy. 

A counsellor who had suffered during fourteen years 
from violent cramps in the stomach, was ordered, during 
the paroxysm, to drink cold water until it caused vomit- 
ing; the pains were for the time augmented, but they 
returned no more. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ANIMAL TREATMENT. 



The immortal Buffon placed the horse next in the order 
of creation to man, therefore man has seriously and 
profoundly studied the anatomy and construction of that 
noble animal, as well as its habits, wants, and diseases. 
The physiology and pathology of the quadruped forms 
at present a science scarcely less cultivated than that 
of the health and diseases of the human race. Hydro- 
pathy shows the imperfections of this science, to which 
the treatment at Graefenberg affords many useful les- 
sons. Priessnitz's precepts will be better received by 
the veterinary surgeon than by our medical practition- 
ers, because the success of this treatment, in its appli- 
cation to the diseased animal, is more certain. To 
understand this, it will suffice to compare the manner 
of living of the one with the other. This comparison 
equally accounts for the general health of animals, and 
the multiplicity of diseases to which mankind are sub- 
ject. On one side all is artificial, on the other all is 
natural. We had better not push the comparison any 
further, lest we should find ourselves but too culpable, 
and justly punished. 

The treatment of the diseased horse, or other animal, 
at Graefenberg, is the same as that of man. We have 



244 ANIMAL TREATMENT. 

said that the agents of the cure are four in number, — 
water, air, exercise, and diet. The quadruped is ex- 
empted from the last, which can be only ordered to 
individuals who are placed out of nature's limits, which 
horses never are. 

On the external use of Cold Water, 

Entire baths, foot-baths, douche-baths, and bandages, 
constitute all the external treatment requisite for a 
horse : rubbing the body of the animal for some hours 
with wetted straw, must also be added. This operation 
is of great efficacy in bringing out stagnant humours, 
reanimating half paralysed limbs, and in strengthening 
the joints. The douche is applied by means of a fire 
engine : the baths have the property of giving a tone to 
the skin and the nerves. The bandages for the horse 
are the same as those used for man ; they are of two 
sorts, heating and cooling. 

Internal use of Cold Water. 

There are two ways of applying cold water internally, 
viz. : drinks and injections into the cavities ; but ablu- 
tions form the most important part of the treatment. 

Sudorific Process. 

This is the same for horses as for men, and is often 
sufficient to effect a cure, as the greatest part of these 
diseases proceed from suppressed perspiration after too 
violent exercise. Previous to sweating the animal 
should be well rubbed down. After this sweating, the 



WEAKNESS OF THE LIMBS AND SPRAINS. 



245 



whole of the body of the animal should be immersed in 
a cold bath which fortifies the system. 

If there is no river in the neighbourhood, its place 
should be supplied by the throwing of several buckets of 
cold water over the body. After the performance of 
this operation, the animal should be exercised. 

To make a horse sweat, he should be well rubbed 
down for some time with cold water, then he should be 
entirely enveloped in blankets, excepting the head. If 
this proceeding prove ineffectual, the animal should be 
rubbed down again, and afterwards covered with a wet 
sheet, and again replaced in blankets. This will cer- 
tainly be followed by the desired effect. Immediately 
perspiration commences water should be given often in 
small quantities to drink. After having sufficiently 
perspired, the horse should be uncovered and im- 
mediately washed all over with cold water, then rubbed 
down, and gently exercised. 

This treatment should be repeated until the animal 
be perfectly re-established. 

The following diseases are thus treated at Graefen- 
berg. 

Paralytic Weakness of the Limbs, and Sprains. 

At Graefenberg these diseases are generally success- 
fully treated by constant friction with cold water, when 
one man is fatigued he must be replaced by another. 
This rubbing subdues the heat, and it should be fol- 
lowed by heating bandages. I have seen the weakness 
of the hips and loins disappear after twenty-four hours 
of this treatment ; the douche was also used, which in 
these cases is marvellous in its effect. 



£46 EXTERNAL INFLAMMATIONS AND WOUNDS. 



External Inflammations and Wounds. 

After having well cleansed the sore, it should be 
covered with a heating bandage, which must be fre- 
quently renewed, if the inflammation is severe, and the 
heat great, to refresh the mass of blood. The animal 
should go into the water, but without wetting the 
wound : in case of fever the body of the horse should be 
covered with wet linen, over which a blanket must be 
fastened, in order to promote perspiration ; when this 
has continued for some time, apply cold water as 
before. 

External inflammation proceeds from two causes, 
first, from the tightness of the saddle, which wounds the 
flesh ; secondly, from the blows which the horse receives. 
Directly you perceive that the horse has been hurt by 
the saddle, take it off, and having rubbed him well dry, 
place upon the wound a heating bandage, that is to say, 
a wet bandage covered with a dry one, and firmly tied 
on ; it should be observed that the heating bandage 
requires to be frequently renewed ; but always before 
renewing the bandage, rub the part affected with straw 
well wetted with cold water ; the parts near the wound 
must be treated in the same manner. This process is 
also useful in cases of throat obstructions, and should be 
repeated as often as the bandage becomes hot. When 
the heat has disappeared, the cooling bandage should 
replace the other ; that is to say, a wet bandage without 
a dry one over it. Before this becomes quite dry it 
should be renewed, taking care each time to rub well 
the parts affected, which renders them, when exposed, 
less sensitive. This gives elasticity to the wound, causes 



THE STAGGERS. £47 

the stagnant humours to circulate, and produces natural 
perspiration. 

For inflammation which comes from a blow, either 
recent or of long standing, the following is the treat- 
ment. In the first case, cooling bandages and frictions 
with wet straw are resorted to. "When the inflammation 
subsides, heating bandages should replace the cooling 
ones. In changing the bandages be careful to rub the 
parts well, to prevent the diseased parts hardening. In 
inflammations of long standing, the heating bandage 
should be applied, with energetic rubbing frequently 
repeated. 

The Staggers. 

Bleeding in this disease procures a temporary relief, 
but it is not possible by this means to effect a cure, as 
the cause of the disease still exists. This cause is 
nothing more than a stoppage of perspiration, followed 
by a want of energy of the skin. The humours which 
cause perspiration then mix with the blood, derange and 
thicken it ; this causes a stagnation, of which the brain 
is frequently the seat. This must be the true solution 
of the cause of the malady, because one single friction 
of the skin, powerfully applied with wetted straw, is 
sufficient to cure this disease in the beginning. In 
severe cases the animal should be sweated, taking care 
always after perspiration, to rub the body well all 
over with fresh cold water. During this treatment, the 
animal's head should be wetted every hour with cold 
water, and it should be fed on green food. The douche 
in this case is of the greatest utility. 



248 



FEVER. 



Want of Appetite. 

If frictions frequently repeated do not produce appe- 
tite, the animal must be sweated, as in the other cases. 

N.B. Diseased animals should be well supplied with 
cold water, and, when in health, water should be admin- 
istered freely. 

Foundering of Horses. 

An overworked horse is subject to contract this dis- 
ease. It is cured by friction, the sudorific process, and 
the douche. Before sweating, the animal should be 
energetically rubbed down ; and immediately after he 
has ceased perspiring, he should be wetted all over, and 
then be gently exercised ; taking care that he constantly 
wears heating bandages, and that his legs be frequently 
rubbed down with cold water — for which process his 
feet may be placed in a foot-bath, several times a day. 

The Strangles. 

At Graefenberg I have seen this disease easily cured, 
by the sudorific process and exercise. 

It is much better, by sweating, to draw the humours 
(which obstruct the glands) to the skin, than to throw it 
on the lungs ; whence it escapes by the nostrils. This 
means of evacuation is only chosen by nature, in con- 
sequence of the skin being obstructed. Open the pores 
of the cutaneous organs, and the running at the animal's 
nostrils will immediately cease. 

Fever. 
The treatment for this malady consists of energetical 
general friction ; to which is added the sudorific process. 



LOCK-JAW. 249 

Inflammatory fever is cured by strong friction all over 
the body of the animal, continued for a long time ; after 
which, he is placed in a deep cold bath, where he should 
remain until he begins to tremble with cold. On com- 
ing out of the water, the animal should be well rubbed 
down again, and enveloped in wet linen ; over which are 
placed blankets, in order to produce sweating, which 
process must be repeated until all symptoms of fever 
cease. 

Loch-jaw. 

Friction, the douche, and perspiration, are the reme- 
dies for this disease. During the intervals of their 
application, cold bandages should be applied to the dis- 
eased parts. It is necessary to exercise the animal as 
soon as he is able to move. 

The irritation of the skin counteracts the lock-jaw. — 
The efficacy of water in this complaint, has been known 
in England for years. I recollect reading in the Chelms- 
ford paper, that the possessor of a valuable horse, which 
had been seized with lock-jaw, after trying all other 
remedies in vain, threw upon the animal (from a height) 
many hogsheads of water ; causing it to fall heaviest on 
the loins. The horse was then enveloped in warm cloth- 
ing, and was, by this simple means, completely cured. 
This treatment was also applied to a horse belonging to 
one of my acquaintances, in Gloucestershire, with the 
same success. 



CHAPTER XVIII, 

A JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG, AND OBSERVATIONS 
ON THE ESTABLISHMENT. — BY J. GROSS. 

On approaching the little town of Freiwaldau, I was 
surprised and delighted when in looking by chance to 
the left, I recognised the hamlet of Graefenberg, with 
its scattered houses, built upon the declivity of the 
mountain from which it takes its name. Arrived at 
that point where the high road of Freiwaldau is left for 
the narrow and bad road which conducts to Graefenberg, 
I was astonished that no one had ever placed a hand- 
post to apprize the sick traveller harassed with fatigue, 
that he had arrived at the end of his journey^ where he 
would be speedily relieved from all pain. The want of 
this causes him to proceed to Freiwaldau, whence he is 
subsequently obliged to retrace his steps. 

From that moment, numerous ideas crowded upon 
my mind. I could no longer remain in the carriage. 
I alighted, and accelerated my steps towards the famous 
mountain, the echo from which now resounds to the 
most distant countries of the civilized world. Giving 
myself up to the reveries of my imagination, I fancied 
the water of the little streamlet murmuring by the side 
of the path I was pursuing to be running from the baths 
at Graefenberg, and consequently that it was impure, 
infected, and impregnated by syphilic, scrofulous, and 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG, £51 

gouty venoms. The houses which I saw above me ap- 
peared so many habitations of enchanted princes and 
princesses, whose bodies had taken all sorts of hideous 
shapes, and were become impotent, paralytic, leprous, 
&c. Among them, I fancied, I discovered the great 
and benignant magician, Priessnitz, employed in touch- 
ing them with his wonderful wand, and giving them 
back their gait, their sight, and the use and purity of 
their members. And what is that mysterious and ex- 
cellent wand ? It is cold water, quite simple and pure ; 
and it is precisely because it is only water, that the 
world is so prejudiced and blinded as not to believe the 
prodigies it can perform. 

I was soon tete-a-tete with this medical phenome- 
non. I did not find him so handsome, or witty, or 
rather not so sly and cunning as he appears in the por- 
trait I have of him; to balance which, the latter has 
not that expression of goodness, calm, and reflection 
which is expressed in Priessnitz's physiognomy. He 
presented me to his wife, who is pretty and fair, very 
natural but very clever, is perfectly acquainted with 
domestic economy, and alone manages the entire house- 
hold. 

Notwithstanding I had the caution, which is indis- 
pensable to any one going to Grraefenberg, to be pre- 
viously announced to Priessnitz in order to procure a 
room, I could obtain no place in either of the four build- 
ings belonging to Priessnitz, and was therefore lodged 
in one of the nearest peasant's houses which are built 
here and there on the declivity of Graefenberg. 

Oh, what a bad lodging ! Our servants would not 
put up with it. The delicate inhabitant of a town 
would be disgusted with the whole of the cure, if 

Q2 



252 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

his sufferings, of which he eame to disencumber him- 
self, did not require the sacrifice at any price. As it is, 
he must resign himself to his fate, and make a virtue of 
necessity. My landlord conducted me by a narrow 
staircase, almost perpendicular, placed at the low and 
dirty entrance of the house, to a very small room, so low 
that I could not stand upright in it ; I constantly ran 
the risk of knocking my head against the beams of the 
ceiling. 

The furniture consisted of a wooden bedstead, a straw 
mattress, a thin feather bed, and one sheet ; instead of 
blankets for covering, a large feather bed ; two pillows, 
a chest of drawers, a small table and two chairs, all of 
common wood; then a boot-jack, a pot de chambre, a 
bottle, two glasses, and an enormous wash-hand basin. 
Those who require mattresses will be able to hire them 
at Freiwaldau, situated three-quarters of a mile from 
Graefenberg, 

I had just put my things to rights when the bell at 
Priessnitz's large establishment announced the dinner- 
hour. On entering the dining-room, which is ninety 
feet long, I was very much surprised to see 168* per- 
sons assembled, sitting mixed together without any dis- 
tinction as to rank or age, at three tables placed in a 
line. Priessnitz presides at the first table on the left- 
hand, and is never missing either at breakfast, dinner, 
or supper. It is there he gives his public audiences, 
and is continually consulted by some of those pre- 
sent who have something to tell or to ask him. All is 
said aloud without any restraint. It is astonishing to 

* Mr. Gross must have been at Graefenberg before the present 
colossal building was erected, which will account for so small a num- 
ber at dinner. 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 25S 

see such noisy merriment among so many invalids. 
Soup, with something fried, was served. Boiled beef 
with sour sauce, and to my great surprise, with salted 
cucumbers, are allowed, also minced meat with green 
peas. Instead of vegetables, which, with the excep- 
tion of cabbages, and sour crout, are very scarce, mut- 
ton, veal, and pork are alternately served, as well as 
fowls and roast ducks, with salad or preserves ; also, 
all kinds of pastry. Fresh butter daily replaces dessert. 
During the sixteen days which I passed at Graefenberg, 
I was satisfied with the cooking; all was good, tender, 
and savoury. I consider the complaints made on this 
subject in general very unjust. 

When sometimes the fresh-killed meat is tough, or 
when the made dishes are not well cooked, it is wrong 
to blame either Priessnitz or his wife. To be just, we 
must admit these accidents happen in every house ; the 
only thing that I found fault with was the brown bread, 
which is always cut too soon. This causes the bread 
to be too moist; but there are always persons seated 
in the corridors who sell white bread, milk bread, and 
a sort of gingerbread, made without spices, to excite 
thirst ; also fruits, according to the season, which are 
permitted in the treatment. Everybody drinks a great 
deal of cold water at table ; and from twenty to thirty 
glasses a day form the ordinary quantity drank. Pri- 
essnitz recommends a copious use of cold water to all 
his patients, as much to repair the loss of liquid, caused 
by strong perspiration daily, as a remedy to dilute and 
dissolve : also in assisting the evacuation of morbid sub- 
stances. Therefore, the servants are continually occu- 
pied in filling the decanters with very cold and excellent 
water, from a fountain which springs at two steps from 



^54 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

the dining-room, and which is, morning and evening, 
encircled by the invalids, who amuse themselves by try- 
ing who can drink most. It is a great pity that this 
spring, which in any other bathing-place would be made 
to present a pretty and agreeable aspect, is here treated 
with inconceivable negligence and carelessness. Instead 
of being covered in, it is exposed to all weathers, and a 
continual draught. 

As the whole of the treatment tends to give activity 
to the system, and to the natural physical power the 
necessary energy to throw off the disease, and to elimi- 
nate the morbid matter, Priessnitz, far from weakening 
the system by want of food, or prescribing any severe 
diet to the invalids, (excepting exotic spices and all spi- 
rituous liquors, which are interdicted,) allows them to 
eat as much as they like. He gives them solid, coarse, 
and indigestible food, in order to inspire them with 
courage and confidence, which is soon acquired, when 
they find that, with all their sufferings, they eat more, 
and with better appetites, than they formerly did ; and 
these invalids can digest those things which, in health, 
they would not venture to eat, at least without exposing 
themselves to much inconvenience and discomfort. We 
must admit that this is a very important point, and gives 
Hydropathy a great advantage over any other treatment 
known in our days. Far from subjecting the patient to 
privations, on the score of eating and drinking, the water 
cure gives an appetite, and forces the invalid to eat 
more than he was accustomed to, even in health. But 
this will not astonish us, when we reflect on the means 
of action that this treatment puts in daily use, such as 
perspiration, the douche, bathing, drinking, exercise in 
the fresh air, ascending mountains, &c, all of which 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 255 

excite the appetite. The way of living here, causes to 
the system, if I may so express it, a continual and con- 
siderable outlay, only to be replaced by proportionable 
receipts. 

I can testify that what I saw at the dinner at Graef- 
enberg, surpassed all my expectations ; for there every 
body, indiscriminately, eat with such appetites and in 
such quantities, that but for my conviction of being 
amongst invalids, labouring under all kinds of diseases, 
most of which were thought incurable by the most cele- 
brated and clever of the faculty, I should have thought 
they were a number of famished workmen, perfectly 
robust and healthy. 

Notwithstanding this, I do not hesitate to say, that 
this gluttonous manner of eating, of most of Priessnitz's 
patients, is degenerated to a mania, an excess, a vice ; 
and that its effects cannot be indifferent to the cure. — 
Further on, I shall return to the subject. 

After dinner I consulted Priessnitz on my own case ; 
recounting to him briefly the complaints which I had 
had for many years, and of which I had been delivered 
by daily ablutions, occasional partial baths, and wet 
bandages ; and that of all my ailments, none remained 
except a chronic cold in the head — that I could not get 
rid of; and which inconvenienced me very much. I, 
however, assured him, that it was not this slight indis- 
position, but the desire of making his acquaintance, of 
seeing his establishment, and of initiating myself into 
all parts of his admirable curing method, which had 
induced me to undertake the journey to Graefenberg. — 
He was of opinion, that his treatment (principally the 
sudorific process, and the subsequent bath) would have 
very salutary effects on my health ; and he advised me, 



£56 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

the same evening to take a preparatory bath, and to 
address myself on the subject, to my landlord. Every 
peasant, who has a house at Graefenberg, lets all the 
rooms which he does not require, to patients who cannot 
be accommodated by Priessnitz. For this they have 
each near their houses a spring of water, that, by means 
of pipes, is conveyed into a room belonging to the habi- 
tation ; which contains all the apparatus necessary to 
the treatment. Custom having rendered the proprietor 
of the house familiar with the mode of treatment, he is 
bath-servant for the men $ and his wife for the women. 
The price for a small room is one florin, or two shillings 
per week; as much for the bed, and one shilling and 
four-pence a week for the servant. 

To return to my preparatory bath ; my landlord or 
servant made me strip to the skin, then covered me with 
a sheet, and my cloak over it. After this he provided 
me with a pair of straw slippers to cover my feet, and 
then conducted me to a small bath-room, where he made 
me enter the bath, which contained only a few inches of 
water, of the temperature of about 60°. When he had 
washed and rubbed me several times from head to foot, 
I was led back to my chamber, in the same costume, 
and well dried and rubbed. I then dressed and took a 
walk in the open air. 

It is very inconvenient for the invalids lodged in some 
of the peasants* houses, not to find a bath in them : they 
are, consequently, even when undressed, obliged to walk 
a distance, short or long, as it may happen, out of doors, 
to the bath, exposed to the atmosphere, and occasionally 
to the disagreeable necessity of walking in the mud, for 
the foot-paths are neither raised nor paved. 

Priessnitz orders these ablutions or preparatory baths 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. gffl 

to all new comers for a long or short period, according 
to the disease and the degree of sensitiveness of the pa- 
tient, before he allows them to plunge into cold water. 
There are even some cases where, during the whole of 
the treatment, the invalid must confine himself to the 
use of these baths. 

At seven o'clock in the evening the bell rang for 
supper, which, like breakfast, consists of cold milk, 
brown bread, and fresh butter. The two or three hours 
spent in the saloon before retiring to rest, are generally 
the most agreeable. Smoking is allowed in the billiard- 
room, but not in the saloon, where we chat and play, 
but never at cards ; there is frequently music and sing- 
ing, and now and then a dance. Evening is also the 
time for the arrival of the often ardently desired mes- 
senger, who brings the letters, and who takes away 
those that are written. 

Being fatigued by the journey, I soon left the room 
to go to bed. It rained very hard, and I was astonished 
on going out to find that -it was perfectly dark. After 
having advanced a few useless steps in the mud, I was 
compelled to return for a servant with a lantern to light 
me to my lodging. This is another of those inconveni- 
ences at Graefenberg which could be easily remedied, 
if Priessnitz and the other proprietors would pave the 
avenues to their houses, render the roads more practica- 
ble by covering them with gravel, and have them lighted 
at night, so that the invalids might not be exposed to 
sink in the mud, or to slip and be hurt by falling, in 
descending the hill. 

Notwithstanding the hardness of my bed, I slept pro- 
foundly until 4 a. m., when my host came to pack me 
up to commence my first sudorific process. He made 



258 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

me get up, took away the sheet and a wadded counter- 
pane, which Priessnitz had lent me, (as I was not ac- 
customed to the hot heavy feather-bed which they use 
here,) and instead of these he spread out a large blanket, 
on which I laid down naked ; he then commenced the 
usual operation of packing up. Custom had given my 
host such facility that he wrapped me up so well and so 
firmly, that I could not move. Over the blanket he put 
the feather bed, and then the wadded counterpane, and 
over all my cloak ; these being well tucked in, he finished 
by burying my head so deep in the pillows, as only to 
leave the eyes, nose, and mouth uncovered. This cover- 
ing up of the head is only used when required by the 
invalid, or by the order of Priessnitz. In leaving me, 
my attendant wished that perspiration might quickly 
commence, and he came every now and then to inquire 
how I was going on. This manner of lying without 
being able to move, in a woollen blanket, of which the 
hair is long, causes an uncomfortable sensation on the 
skin, and was to me a most disagreeable operation, but 
this was only so for the first time. I went to sleep soon 
after I was covered up, although it is said this is not 
good. My temperament being more dry than moist, it 
was necessary to remain two hours in this position, until 
the sweat was produced by the concentration of perspi- 
ration, and the cutaneous heat manifested itself; with 
many it requires less time, but this is regulated ac- 
cording to the disposition of the patient. My land- 
lord, seeing I was in a state of perspiration, opened the 
window, and gave me from time to time, cold water to 
drink. Both are done in order to refresh the lungs, by 
causing them to inhale fresh air, to reanimate the 
strength of the body, and to preserve it from the heat 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 259 

and weakness which ensue. Cold water, drank when 
the perspiration is running, gives activity to the respi- 
ratory functions, whilst if drank before the breaking 
out of perspiration, it stops it. Another means of pro- 
moting perspiration when difficult, is the forced motion 
of the body, and rubbing of the hands and feet toge- 
ther, as well as this can be done when so tightly wrapped 
up ; only care should be taken not to drink immediately 
after such motion. After having perspired two hours, 
and consequently passed four hours in this disagreeable 
situation, I was delivered from it by Priessnitz, who came 
in and judged it to be sufficient. We must always 
leave him to decide the length of the time requisite, and 
avoid prolonging it until weakness is felt. Its duration 
varies from half an hour to two hours from the moment 
perspiration commences. My attendant shut the win- 
dow, freed my head, and quickly took off all my cover- 
ings, excepting the blanket, which he sufficiently 
loosened to enable him to take away the urinal, which 
had been placed in the bed, and to encase my feet in 
straw slippers. 

At the same time Priessnitz caused me to be seated, 
and to hold out my hands, which he wetted several times 
with cold water ; when he gave me the basin, telling me 
to wash my face. I then left the bed wrapped in my 
blanket, covered with perspiration. I went with a quick 
and gay step, without experiencing the slightest weak- 
ness or inconvenience, to the bottom of the staircase, 
and outside the house to the bath room. Priessnitz 
preceded me ; my landord followed, carrying the sheet 
and cloak. After having washed my hands and face, and 
thrown off the blanket, Priessnitz made me enter the 
>reparatory bath of tepid water, caused me to be washed 



2(30 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

and well rubbed as on the day previous : I then plunged 
for an instant into a bath filled with cold water, which 
comes in continually fresh on the one side, and empties 
itself on the other, and returned as quick as possible to 
the former, when, after another another good rubbing, I 
was obliged again to go into the cold bath, there to 
plunge several times, always rubbing my limbs; and 
again returned for the last time, into the tepid bath, 
which I soon left, covered as the preceding day, to re- 
gain my room, where I was dried by rubbing : I then 
quickly dressed and went out to take exercise. Far 
from shivering, I felt a delightful heat, and a peculiar 
vigour of body and mind. 

I was subjected to the operation of perspiring, but of 
shorter duration, accompanied by the same bath again 
in the evening ; but the next day, leaving the prepara- 
tory bath, on coming out of bed I plunged into the cold 
bath, taking the precaution, which should never be neg- 
lected, of washing hands, face, and neck previously. It 
is true that the first instant it shocks, but as it is the 
more disagreeable from our timidity and slowness in 
entering, I recommend every body to plunge entirely, 
and at once into it, holding one's breath, and in such a 
manner as to let the water pass, over the head, to rub 
well, and as long as possible the diseased parts, and re- 
main there from thirty seconds to five minutes., never 
longer, unless by the express order of Priessnitz. Pati- 
ents often commit a great fault in remaining in the cold 
bath motionless ; continued movement and friction in 
the water is the way to prevent shivering. 

It will be well here again to mention, that prejudice, 
which although so prevalent is nevertheless wrong, and 
contradicted by daily experience, leads people to ima- 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 261 

gine, that the change from heat to cold, and ablu- 
tions after intense heat, as practised at Graefenberg 
and other similar establishments, are prejudicial to 
health, and may even tend to apoplexy. This preju- 
dice only arises from trials made by persons in a state of 
perspiration, caused by talking, singing, working, run- 
ning, or dancing. Such persons must and always will 
have to pay for their imprudence, should they then 
swallow any cold beverage whilst in this state, by the 
loss of their health, and sometimes even of life. By 
these experiments they have arrived at a false conclu- 
sion. 

But it must be remembered, there are two kinds of 
perspiration, essentially differing from each other. The 
first of these is called active perspiration, and is pro- 
duced by the active and voluntary movement of the 
body, by the efforts made by different organs, or by 
some violent exercise of several or all the members, in 
order to warm the blood, and cause it to circulate more 
rapidly in the veins, and to augment the cutaneous per- 
spiration. Doubtless it is very dangerous to bathe or to 
drink in this state of perspiration, when the whole sys- 
tem is heated, irritated, and agitated. On this subject 
the above conclusion is just ; but it is totally different 
in the other sort of perspiration, which, by way of dis- 
tinguishing it, I shall call passive perspiration, in which 
the body does not participate, which can only take 
place in a state of repose, and in a passive state of the 
body or its members, without having been previously 
heated, or any part of the system being excited. Pas- 
sive perspiration can only be produced by external in- 
fluence, such as by warm atmosphere, warm covering, or 



%Q2 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

by any operation which is involuntary, or which tends 
to concentrate or increase natural heat. 

When you perspire in the great heats of summer, 
without even moving, or in a very hot place, or quietly 
lying in bed, that is passive perspiration, during which 
it is not only allowed, but also salutary, to drink any- 
thing cold. It is well known, that in the meridional 
countries, at Naples for example, in the middle of the 
summer persons are found in the streets, who offer iced 
water for sale to the public, and that, even when perspi- 
ration is running down the faces of the people. They 
drink it without fearing or feeling the slightest inconve- 
nience. At Graefenberg, and at all similar establish- 
ments, it is ordered to those perspiring to drink cold 
water, with the intention, which is realized, of per- 
spiring more and more freely. 

As to the other conclusion, that it is equally preju- 
dicial to wash or bathe in cold water in a state of per- 
spiration, it is only correct in speaking of active perspi- 
ration. Even in the hottest day in summer, if a river 
bath is taken after the body is previously heated to 
perspiration by any violent movement, it may cause 
death. But enter it in a state of passive perspiration, 
or when your blood is calm, that is, when you feel no 
internal heat or agitation whatever, then it can do you 
no harm. As to myself, I take regularly every day, 
winter and summer, a cold ablution on getting out of 
bed, without at all caring whether I am in a perspira- 
tion or not ; and, thank God, I am in excellent health. 
I appeal to the thousands of invalids who have vi- 
sited Graefenberg, and other similar establishments, 
for the truth of this statement, if, amongst the num- 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 26S 

ber, one can be found who will say that it is injurious 
to enter the cold-bath whilst in a state of passive per- 
spiration. No person ought to neglect, before plunging 
into a cold-bath, the precaution of washing the hands, 
face, and chest, nor to remain longer in the water than 
five minutes. 

Why do so many doctors recommend Russian baths 
as being salutary, if cold ablutions, in a state of per- 
spiration, (which is nearly the same practice,) are so 
injurious? 

At any rate, the method of provoking perspiration, 
inseparable from the subsequent bath, which Priessnitz 
and his followers use with such brilliant success, has 
many eminent advantages over every other means of 
exciting perspiration known at the present day. There 
is no doubt that perspiration, produced by sudorifics, 
and the aid of the pharmacy, agitates the system too 
violently, softens the skin, weakens, and makes the 
body considerably thinner, principally because it is not 
followed by cold ablutions. In fomenting baths, the 
ardent vapours which are breathed, and which act on 
the skin, heat the lungs and irritate the nerves ; there- 
fore it is feared that their constant use would be inju- 
rious to health, by affecting the lungs and the nerves. 
Priessnitz's method presents none of these objections, it 
is as harmless as it is salutary and efficacious. There is 
neither medicine, nor any motion of the body, or burn- 
ing vapour, to provoke perspiration — it is mere simple 
wrapping up, by means of which the natural heat of the 
body, being unable to communicate outwardly, is con- 
centrated and augmented, and so provokes perspiration 
by reacting on the body. The blood and lungs remain 
in entire repose, and, far from being heated, they are 



264 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

constantly refreshed and reinforced by the fresh air the 
patient breathes, and the cold water he drinks. 

It is at the same time the only way to provoke the 
most abundant perspiration, as may be seen daily at 
Graefenberg, where some persons perspire so profusely, 
that the water coming from their bodies not only pene- 
trates all the coverings, but also the mattress and straw 
bed. It is also the only means of perspiration that can 
be employed daily for months, nay, for years, not only 
with impunity, and without weakening the body, but 
with great advantage to the health, particularly in some 
cases of chronic and inveterate diseases. 

With the exception of very few cases, (for example, 
great weakness of the invalid,) the perspiration and cold- 
bath, subsequently combined, form the essential part of 
the cure in Hydropathy ; but this is also modified ac- 
cording to the time of its commencement, and the length 
of time it has continued. It is also regulated by the 
nature of the disease, and the strength of the patient. 
Priessnitz has learnt, from long experience, that the use 
of cold-baths, without being preceded by perspiration, 
makes the skin dry and rough, frequently causing blist- 
ers. He pays great attention to the provocation of per- 
spiration ; considering it the best means of rendering the 
system susceptible of the salutary action of cold water ; 
in fact, to make it more pliable. He compares the 
effect of perspiration to that of the hammer on hot 
iron, instead of cold ; when in a state of heat, the iron 
takes any form you may choose to give it. 

He also knows how this perspiration, united to the 
subsequent cold-bath, favours and gives activity to the 
important functions of the cutaneous system ; the viti- 
ated state of which is the cause of so many diseases. 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 265 

Wherefore he treats it with particular attention ; it 
is generally then that he visits his patients. Very often 
the odour and quality of the perspiration enlightens 
him as to the true nature of the disease, and directs as 
to the treatment he should pursue. 

As I had determined to learn, and to try on my own 
body all the parts which constitute the Hydropathic 
treatment, I soon went to the douche, which Priessnitz 
had allowed me to use in moderation, so long as I did 
not feel any irritation resulting from it. 

There are ten douches at Graefenberg : the first two, 
established near the lowest houses of the hamlet, are 
unimportant. They are used when the weather is such 
as to prevent access to the higher ones, which are all in a 
forest at the top of the mountain, and nearly three quar- 
ters of a mile from Graefenberg. Two of them, which 
are higher than the others, are exclusively consecrated 
to the ladies : the water which springs thence has the 
lowest temperature, and falls in a column, an inch and 
half in diameter, from a height of eleven to fourteen 
feet. The water which runs from these is collected, and 
conducted by spouts, and forms the six douches for the 
men, which are placed one beneath the other. The 
height of the fall of water varies from eleven to nine- 
teen feet ; as well as the temperature, which is from 6° 
to 10° Reaumur, according to the season and hour of the 
day. 

The douche should never be taken immediately after 
dinner ; the most favourable time is in the morning. — 
When, on arriving, and heated by the walk, the patient 
should wait until a little cooled. It is equally bad to 
take the douche when cold. 

Previous to exposing the body to the action of the 

R 



2QQ GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

douche, it is necessary to wet the hands, face, and chest ; 
and then receive the fall of water on the hands, joined 
together, in intertwining the fingers above the head, so 
as to water the whole of the body first. 

It is only requisite to expose successively the nape of 
the neck, back, stomach, and thighs to the column of 
falling water, &c, but never the head or chest, taking 
care to move about, and rubbing the whole of the time, 
letting the water fall as much as possible on the diseased 
part. The douche is generally taken for two minutes the 
first time, and afterwards gradually increased even to 
fifteen minutes. On leaving the bath the patient must 
be quickly dried and dressed, in order that he may walk 
to avoid any feeling of cold, which is often disagreeable 
if he should have remained too long at the douche. There 
are persons who have taken the douche from thirty to 
forty minutes, and even longer ; the same excess has 
been committed in regard to perspiration and drinking; 
but this is a misplaced bravado. It is an erroneous idea 
to think that the cure can be accelerated by these 
means ; on the contrary, it often retards it : consequently, 
it is requisite for all who go to Graefenberg to consult 
Priessnitz upon these points, and follow his directions 
precisely ; and it is essential to all who submit to the 
treatment at Graefenberg, to take exact information of 
Priessnitz himself on the following points : — - 

1st. Whether they should perspire once or twice a 
day, and how long they should remain in perspiration, 
and during that time at what intervals they should 
drink ; also, how many days they should use the prepa- 
ratory baths, previous to plunging into cold water, and 
how many minutes they should remain in the latter. 

2ndly. In case the douche is ordered them, for what 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 267 

length of time they should remain under it, which 
douche they should choose, and what parts of the body 
they should principally expose to its action. 

3rdly. Also what quantity of water they should drink 
daily, as well fasting, at dinner, or in the evening. The 
same precautions should be taken as to the applications of 
cold water which are ordered, and care should be taken 
not to act according to the assurances of other patients. 

As to the effect of the Hydropathic treatment, it 
depends as much upon the epoch of the manifestation 
of the disease as upon the manner in which it appears, 
on the changes operated in the system, and the nature of 
the disease and individuality of the patient. 

The first impressions produced by the stay at Grraef- 
enberg are generally favourable and agreeable, since 
water, air, and exercise augment the appetite, cause one 
to sleep well, render the cutaneous and digestive func- 
tions active, and even act in a salutary manner on the 
mind. But after a more lengthened use of the treat- 
ment, divers symptoms come on which are often very 
painful, as well on the surface as in the interior of the 
body : these symptoms are commonly but improperly 
called crises, (efforts of nature to expel morbid matter 
from the body,) by the invalids who wait for them with 
impatience, however painful they may be, because they 
look upon them as certain signs, that the treatment has 
done them good, and that they will be ultimately radi- 
cally cured. The whole of the operation may be ex- 
plained in the following manner, which, although pro- 
blematical, seems to be true. Whilst cold water serves 
as a drink, it also dilutes, dissolves, and evacuates — those 
of the baths irritate the surface of the body in pro- 
voking the reaction of the system, — that is to say, in 

r2 



2QS GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

causing the caloric with which it is provided to bear 
upon the parts subjected to the cold water, and to re- 
pair the loss occasioned bj perspiration. Or as in this 
treatment, the surface of the body is irritated by cold 
water four or five times a day, in reckoning the baths, 
half-baths, douche, &c, and that through these means 
the caloric is incessantly directed towards the circumfer- 
ence, it forms in the system a sort of centrifugal move- 
ment, predominating from that part of the caloric which 
by degrees draws the blood and all the humours after it, 
and makes them take the same tendency. 

This flux of the liquids of the body to the circumfe- 
rence is such, that all stagnations, all morbid deposits, 
cannot in the end resist it ; when leaving the place they 
had occupied, they participate in the general confusion. 
However, how will the system be able to evacuate and 
reject so many prejudicial and injurious substances, 
which by degrees form and accumulate under the skin, 
through which they cannot pass ? It is the daily pers- 
pirations invented by Priessnitz, which present an ex- 
cellent way to aid the system in its efforts to expel these 
matters. 

To be convinced how salutary these perspirations are, 
let us remember the numbers of examples of diseased 
persons, where death seemed inevitable, (even to the 
medical men themselves,) who have been saved by a 
strong perspiration ; which the system, or natural medi- 
cal power, making a last effort, produced, thereby open- 
ing a free passage to the malignant and morbid matter. 

This is the reason why, at Graefenberg, the produce 
of perspiration is often seen impregnated with all kinds 
of calcareous, sulphuric, and even metallic excretions, 
which often have a disagreeable, fetid, sour or mouldy 
smell. 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. ^69 

However, when these perspirations are insufficient to 
excrete so much corrupted matter, or that the matter 
under the skin is of such a nature as cannot by possi- 
bility be eliminated by perspiration, the skin is generally 
seen, sooner or later, to be inflamed in several parts ; 
eruptions take place, and boils and ulcers are formed, 
which, in bursting, evacuate a great quantity of these 
morbid substances. These abscesses are more or less 
painful ; and frequently disappear in one place to re- 
appear in another. 

Besides this, in the midst of the occupation, and the 
continual excitement in which the system is kept during 
the treatment, other very important and painful symp- 
toms occur, which, being accompanied by fever, appear 
to the spectator's eye as dangerous and critical. It is 
principally in the treatment of these symptoms, which 
form the true crisis, and which are the more violent as 
the disease of the patient is more important and invet- 
erate, that Priessnitz should be seen: then his tact, 
his penetration, his presence of mind, and his master- 
hand, cannot but excite a feeling of admiration ; then 
will be displayed his unparalleled calm assurance, — 
then will he show how successfully he can master the 
storm, and distance the danger, and this by means of the 
very cold water which has caused it, by changing the 
mode of its application, according to the disease and the 
constitution of the patient. Sometimes to cure an 
abscess or fever he orders a cold-bath or a sitz-bath ; 
sometimes he applies bandages, or orders the patient to 
be wrapped in a wet sheet ; occasionally friction by the 
hand dipped in water ; sometimes clysters are adminis- 
tered ; at one time drinking copiously, at another time 
very little ; in a word, to see him on these trying occa- 



270 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

sions, one is struck with admiration, mingled with pain, 
on thinking that, until now, he is the only perfect master 
of this art, which will die with him, if some doctors are 
not found sufficiently enlightened to be exempt from 
prejudices, and zealously animated for the well-being 
of humanity, to go and acquire the knowledge of this 
extraordinary method of cure, and endeavour by study 
and experiments to gain the assurance and skill neces- 
sary in the treatment of the crisis, which forms the most 
difficult part of the entire treatment. However, when 
the crisis is over, during which the patient is seldom 
obliged to keep his bed, all the morbid matter being 
expelled, and the organs having assumed their regular 
and natural functions, and the patient has ceased to 
suffer, he is cured, not only of the disease for the cure 
of which he had followed the treatment, — (this must be 
particularly remarked) — but perfectly and completely 
cured of all impurities, and his body is pure and healthy. 
As yet the art of medicine can only cure the present 
complaint, that of which the sufferer complains and 
feels symptoms ; whilst the invalid may have several 
other latent diseases in the system that are not yet 
ripe enough to appear ; he may previously have suffered 
other pains and indispositions, which, at the attack of 
the present disease, have ceased; that is to say, they 
have, for the time being, disappeared. In a word, he 
may have all kinds of derangements in one or other of 
the organs, which it is impossible for the doctors to 
know any thing about, because they do not see them, 
and the patient does not complain of them. Thus it 
occurs that one is declared well without being in good 
and perfect health. 

This is not the case in Priessnitz's mode of cure, for 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. ^71 

Hydropathy does not bear exclusively upon any parti- 
cular parts of the body, but includes the whole system. 
The action of water is general ; it extends at one and 
the same time to all the organs ; it wakens all the evils 
that are latent, and which are only dormant ; it attacks 
and cures all that endangers and vitiates the vital 
economy. 

If the disease is even incurable, the treatment forti- 
fies and purifies the whole system, so as to retard, for 
a long time, its rapid progress. This is why it is diffi- 
cult to determine, beforehand, the length of time neces- 
sary to perfect a cure. The time of cure depends upon 
the system, and the state of each particular organ. 
This method of cure can be accelerated or retarded, 
according to the care the invalid takes to sustain and 
second the action of water, by certain accessory influ- 
ences to which he can have recourse, such as the air he 
breathes, seeing that it is pure, exercise of the body, 
and the kind of nourishment he partakes of. 

Priessnitz does not receive all invalids indiscrimi- 
nately into his establishment ; it is therefore requisite, 
before going, to let him know the nature of the disease 
with which you are attacked, to prevent his sending you 
back. This induces me to say a few words respecting 
the diseases which can be cured by Hydropathy. 

In general, this treatment produces a signal and 
salutary effect upon all persons who have weakened 
their body, and ruined their health, by living too high, 
or the copious use of spirituous liquors, or have led too 
sedentary a life, or been too warmly clothed, and by this 
means suffered continually from rheumatism. All in- 
valids of this class, let the disease be chronic or acute, 
may rest assured of being quickly cured. 



272 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

This treatment performs miraculous cures in diseases 
caused by the use of drugs, principally mercurial, used 
in syphilitic diseases, and even in cases where people in 
a state of convalescence have suffered from repeated 
bleeding, who, when invalids, have so much difficulty in 
regaining their former strength. 

At any rate, the life led at Graefenberg, the per- 
spirations, the cold baths, the water drank there, and 
the pure air there breathed, all work prodigies. Sy- 
philic invalids have been seen at Graefenberg, so thin, 
as to be nothing but skin and bones, and attacked by 
fever or a hectic cough, who were entirely re-established, 
and even became stout and robust, in the space of a few 
months. 

All kinds of gout, podagra, chiragra, gonagra, sciatica, 
and particularly when the gouty matter has settled on 
certain parts and joints, and has produced anchylosis 
and contractions, and even the cataract, are treated at 
Graefenberg with the most brilliant success. There is 
a cure of a Prussian officer who had become quite deaf 
and impotent from the gout, and who was completely 
cured in nine months. 

No other treatment so surely and perfectly cures all 
abdominal diseases and disorders of the digestive organs, 
as well as all gastric diseases, such as dysentery, cholera, 
phlegmatic, nervous, and intermitting fevers. It is 
equally salutary in cases of piles, hypochondria, and 
hysterics. 

This treatment is of signal usefulness in all kinds 
of abscess or ulcers, either syphilic or gonoric, and even 
in caries. 

Baron Falkenstein, in a work he published of the 
miracles at Graefenberg, gives an interesting account of 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. £73 

the manner in which he was cured of caries. A ser- 
geant who was suffering with a decayed leg, (which the 
doctors had condemned to amputation,) was also cured 
by Priessnitz. 

This treatment has a powerful effect in all inflam- 
matory diseases, external or internal. With respect 
to internal inflammations, M. Henry remarks with 
much justness : If in surgery, in cases of inflammation, 
such advantage is derived from the use of cold water, 
one might ask why a remedy which has the effect of 
suspending the circulation from any determined point, 
is not preferred to internal pathology ? and dispense 
with bleeding, both general and local, which causes in 
its effects an insensible loss of blood to the general 
mass, and particularly to the affected organ. In the 
present state of our ideas, it doubtless appears very 
extraordinary to envelope a patient suffering from 
inflammation in a wet sheet; but is this sufficient to 
proscribe, without further information, a practice of 
which experience has proved the prompt and successful 
effects ? 

In acute efflorescent diseases, there are no means 
more efficacious in assisting the eruption, than by 
drinking abundantly of cold water, and during the heat 
and dryness of the skin, applying cold bandages and 
wet sheets. Even in diseases looked upon as incurable, 
this treatment, duly modified, will ever have a salutary 
effect, if not on the affected organ, at least on the 
perfect ones, and so fortify them that they may support 
a longer resistance to the progress of the disease. 

Lastly, I shall say one word more to those who 
imagine that the Hydropathic treatment is capable of 



£74 GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENBERG. 

making people younger, or increasing or giving fresh 
vital forces. Neither water, nor any other remedy, can 
do this; it cannot even cure, since, as it has been al- 
ready observed, it is the system itself, and the natural 
medical power, which must expel the morbid matter 
from the body. Water, like all other remedies, can 
only increase the activity of this power, second its 
efforts, and remove any obstacles that may be in its way. 
Where nought remains, remedies can no longer act : 
consequently, all those who have dissipated their 
strength, old decrepit people, and invalids whose inve- 
terate diseases have already too much ravaged the 
system, of which one or other of the organs is already 
destroyed, would in vain expect to realize in their own 
persons the brilliant success of this cure. 

I even recommend to those who have recovered their 
health at Graefenberg, to be careful and not to re-com- 
mence the intemperate and unreasonable life they have 
previously led. This is never done with impunity, 
and there are many examples where renewed, intem- 
perance, after the most fortunate cure, has brought on 
sudden death. On returning home, one must be pru- 
dent and wise, observe a certain diet, continue the 
treatment, at least in some degree, by drinking, and 
washing with cold water. 

As regards myself, who have left Graefenberg, after 
a stay there of sixteen days, a short time, but which 
will ever remain profoundly engraved on my memory, 
I am entirely cured of my cold in the head; but I 
nevertheless continue the external and internal use of 
cold water ; and although far from scrupulous, and 
still less wedded to any minute diet, I endeavour to be 



GROSS'S JOURNEY TO GRAEFENEERG. 275 

moderate in the enjoyments of life. If at all indisposed, 
I fast rigidly, and continually drink cold water. This 
manner of living affords me the satisfaction of keeping 
in perfectly good health, of feeling strong, gay, and 
lively, and of being as young as any one can boast of 
at fifty-three years of age. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WATER. 

" Sir Isaac Newton defines water, when pure, to be a very fluid 
salt, volatile, and void of all savour or taste; and it seems to consist 
of small, smooth, hard, porous, spherical particles, of equal diameter, 
and of equal specific gravities, as Dr. Cheyne observes : and also, 
that there are between them spaces so large, and ranged in such a 
manner, as to be pervious on all sides. Their smoothness accounts 
for their sliding easily over one another's surfaces; their sphericity 
keeps them also from touching one another in more points than one ; 
and by both these their friction in sliding over one another is ren- 
dered the least possible. Their hardness accounts for the incom- 
pressibility of water, when it is free from the intermixture of air. 
The porosity of water is so very great, that there is at least forty 
times as much space as matter in it; for water is nineteen times 
specifically lighter than gold, and consequently rarer in the same 
proportion." — Limbird. 

" O madness ! to think use of strong wines, 

And strongest drink, our chief support of health, 
When God, with these forbidden, made choice to rear 
His mighty champion, strong above compare, 
Whose drink was only from the limpid brook." — Milton. 

" Water is the universal vehicle by which are conveyed the parti- 
cles to sustenance and growth, by which thirst is quenched, and all 
the wants of life and nature are supplied." — Dr. Johnson. 

" Water was the primitive, original beverage, as it is the only 
simple fluid for diluting, moistening, and cooling ; serving all the 
ends of drink appointed by nature. And, happy had it been for the 
race of mankind, if other mixed and artificial liquors had never 
been invented. It has been an agreeable appearance to me to 



WATER. 



277 



observe with what freshness and vigour, those who, though eatino- 
freely of flesh meat, yet drink nothing but this element, have lived 
in health and cheerfulness to a great age." — Dr. Cheyne. 

" In the midst of a society, where wine and spirits are considered 
as of little more value than water, I have lived two years with- 
out either ; and with no other drink but water, except when I 
have found it convenient to obtain milk ; not an hour's illness ; 
not a headache for an hour ; not the smallest ailment ; not 
a restless night ; not a drowsy morning have I known during 
these two famous years of my life. The sun never rises before 
me, I have always to wait for him to come and give me light to 
write by, while my mind is in full vigour, and while nothing has 
come to cloud its clearness." — Cobbett. 



THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS ARE EXTRACTS FROM 
THE GERMAN, BY J. GROSS. 

In a state of purity, water is divested of all foreign 
substances, is transparent, devoid of colour or smell, and 
insipid. At first it would appear as insignificant and 
of little importance, but this substance becomes more 
important and excites our admiration and surprise when 
we examine the subject more attentively, when we con- 
sider its operations, its effects, the great influence that it 
exercises upon all other substances in nature, and the 
important part which the Almighty has assigned it in 
creation. Thus we read in Holy "Writ, " In the begin- 
ning God created the heavens and the earth ; and the 
earth was without form and void, and darkness was 
upon the face of the deep ; and the Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters." This leads us to conclude 
that the Lord granted to water a more than ordinary 
power : to moisten, penetrate, transform, fertilize, and 
give life to all bodies. It is this inestimable virtue that 
we still see it exercise in the three kingdoms of nature. 



278 WATER. 

In the mineral kingdom, water performs an important 
part, it being the great dissolvent. It penetrates and 
decomposes, more or less, all mineral bodies. It gives 
existence to mineral fluids, and contributes greatly to 
the formation and growth of minerals. 

In the vegetable kingdom, by moistening the earth, 
it renders it fit for vegetation, it developes the seeds 
and roots of plants to which it furnishes nourishment. 
The caloric of the earth and air dilates the water and 
transforms it into vapours in the atmosphere, from 
whence it falls as dews, fogs, or fertilizing rain, refresh- 
ing the leaves and the stalks, and causing the plants to 
grow and fructify. 

In the animal kingdom, its influence is equally power- 
ful. It enters essentially into the composition of the 
blood and humours, and it acts equally powerfully in 
the formation, the nutrition, and the development of 
the animal body. 

The most important property of water is its fluidity, 
which renders it so essentially useful as a dissolvent of 
animate and inanimate matter. When applied to the 
animal or human body, it penetrates its pores and intes- 
tines, and mixing with the blood, diminishes the con- 
sistence of the latter, and consequently facilitates an 
easy and regular circulation. 

In this respect, water has an attenuating and rarify- 
ing power, which prevents the thickening and conglutina- 
tion of humours, and subtilizes, dissolves, and carries off 
all unwholesome, mucilaginous, or saline matter from 
the body. , 

The influence of cold water upon the body produces 
a primitive and subsequent action, that is to say, a re- 
action. The first of the effects thus produced consists 



WATER. 



279 



in an absorption of the caloric caused by the cold of the 
body with which it comes in contact, thereby determin- 
ing an immediate obstruction, or a sort of astriction, 
which empties the capillary system, and presses the 
blood and humours of the circumference to the centre, 
principally to the chest and head. But as every thing 
which causes some derangement in the human body 
also produces a reaction tending to establish order, 
the organic system endeavours immediately to re- 
pair the loss of caloric which it had sustained. The 
action of the inner organs being increased, it reacts 
externally in bringing back a more powerful heat to 
the part affected by the cold, and thus not only re- 
establishes those functions subjected to the cold, but 
increases all the organic movements by means of the 
intimate connexion of the different parts of the body. 
This subsequent action of cold is highly advantageous, 
inasmuch as it is caloric which excites and increases the 
activity of the organs. 

From this we may easily imagine that if we bring our 
body in contact with cold water, and daily employ it 
also internally, we cannot but derive great advantages 
from it, with respect to our health ; and the necessary 
consequence will be, that the circulation of blood and 
humours will be accelerated, the appetite excited, the 
secretions and the excretions augmented, the body for- 
tified from the slight stimulation of the nerves; and 
thus by the augmentation of the fissures, the force and 
effect of the muscular fibres increased, without any 
diminution of the suppleness of those members. The 
excessive sensibility of the nerves to external impres- 
sions, above all, to heat and cold, will thereby be less- 
ened, and the body hardened, so as to resist the temper- 
ature of the air. 



280 



EFFECTS OF 



Effects of Cold Water Drinking. 

Experience constantly proves that the drinkers of 
cold water are healthier, stronger, more active and 
lively, eat more, digest better, and are protected from 
many diseases, particularly those of the stomach and 
abdomen, to which the drinkers of wine and beer are 
subject. — Whence does this arise ? 

To answer this question we must examine the action 
of cold water on entering the body, until it has pene- 
trated all its parts. 

It produces a salutary effect even in the mouth ; it 
strengthens the gums, preserves the enamel, whitens and 
preserves the teeth, and clears away meat or any thing 
that attaches to them. In going down the throat and 
windpipe it strengthens the parts, and renders them less 
liable to inflammation. When in the stomach, it puri- 
fies, dilutes, dissolves, and fortifies ; it not only spreads 
and dilutes the aliments therein found, but renders the 
juices wholesome and nourishing, and dissolves all the 
salt, earthy, and sulphurous matter, by combining with 
these and clearing them away by means of evacuation. 
By its cleanliness, it refreshes. As a drink, it is the 
most suitable, for it allays thirst better than any other; 
at the same time it is an excellent digester, it prevents 
stagnation, and dispels all humours, and even fibrous 
substances, found in the stomach. Drank in sufficient 
quantities, it subdues poison,, by destroying its deadly 
power ; for instance, a single drop of aqua-fortis burns 
the skin — mixed with a little water, it loses its corrosive 
power. 

It refreshes, purifies, and fortifies the intestines, heart, 
lungs, and liver; it aids the free and gentle circulation 
of the blood and humours, from the large veins to the 



COLD WATER DRINKING. ouj 

smallest capillary vessels, in assisting the evacuation 
of all that is useless and hurtful. 

In fact, as a good digestion and regular circulation of 
humours, by their reciprocal action fortify the nervous 
and muscular system, we can say that cold water makes 
the body strong and healthy, since health consists but 
in the free exercise of all the vital functions. 

Hufeland, one of the most celebrated German doc- 
tors, in his Macrobiatique, or the art of prolonging 
human life, says : — 

" Although water is sometimes despised, and often 
even looked upon as dangerous, it is, nevertheless, the 
best drink ; and I do not hesitate in stating, that it is 
an excellent means of prolonging life. But the most 
essential thing is, that it should be fresh ; for in its 
freshness there is a certain spirit, which in a peculiar 
manner renders it so digestive and fortifying. This, in 
mineral waters, and also in springs and wells, may be 
called Brunnen geist, or the Spirit of the Fountain. 
Fresh water has the following advantages, which are 
peculiar to it, and which ought to cause it to be esteemed 
and appreciated the more, it being the great dissolver, 
par excellence, of nature. Its cold temperature, and 
the fixed air, or carbonic acid, which is therein found, 
render it the best fortifier and vivifier of the stomach 
and nerves. This cold, and the fixed air, added to the 
saline substances which it contains, make it an excellent 
antibilious and antiputrid remedy. 

"It aids digestion, but still more the secretions of 
the body, as without water there can be no excretions. 
In fact, according to all the new experiments, oxygen, 
the air so necessary to life, enters essentially into the 
composition of water: we might therefore with truth 

s 



282 



EFFECTS OF 



say, that the water which we drink furnishes us each 
time with new vivifying matter." 

In another place, the same author said : " Much has 
been written and spoken of panaceas, or universal reme- 
dies ; but I think the most certain and safest remedy is 
to be found in every clear spring in the bosom of nature ; 
always fresh, always reviving." 

To prove further the salutary effects of cold water, 
Hufeland gives an example of a Mr. Theden, Surgeon 
General to the King of Prussia, who assured him, that 
he owed the happiness of arriving at eighty years of age 
in good health, to cold water; that since the age of forty, 
he had contracted the habit of drinking daily from seven 
to eight glasses. 

This respectable old man, from his thirtieth to his 
fortieth year, had been a martyr to hypochondria, which 
often produced profound melancholy. He continually 
suffered such beatings of the heart, and severe indiges- 
tions, that he thought he could not live six months. 

However, directly he commenced this water diet, all 
his complaints disappeared one by one, so that during 
the second half of his life, he enjoyed much better health 
than in his youth. 

Cold water suits every constitution, and all ages, both 
sexes, and all seasons. 

According to the ancient doctors, there are four sorts 
of temperaments, or constitutions of the human body. 
The sanguine, the choleric or bilious, the melancholic, 
and the phlegmatic. A man of a sanguine tempera- 
ment is very irritable and sensitive, but the sensations 
which he feels are changeable and of short duration ; 
the will which makes him act is inconstant, wanting in 
firmness and resolution. This plethoric disposition, 



COLD WATER DRINKING ggg 

that is to say, the predominant superabundance of his 
blood, so easy to irritate and inflame, imposes upon him 
the necessity of avoiding all sanguiferous or exciting 
aliments, and to drink a good deal of water, as the sole 
means of calming the effervescence of his blood, and 
facilitating the quiet and regular circulation of all the 
humours. 

The man of melancholic temperament, in opposition 
to the sanguine, is less irritable and susceptible, but his 
impressions are more profound, a circumstance which 
easily renders him obstinate and inflexible, sombre and 
melancholy. Having thick blood, and being naturally 
subject to obstructions, particularly in the vascular 
system of the abdominal viscera, as also in cases of 
hemorrhoides, such persons ought most particularly 
to avoid all acid, indigestible and flatulent aliments ; 
and should drink constantly of cold water in suffi- 
cient quantities to allay the blood and humours, to 
prevent the filling of the vessels, and to keep the bowels 
open. 

Extreme irritability and susceptibility characterise 
the choleric temperament ; a bilious man feels quickly 
and strongly ; he is impetuous and easily excited : the 
predominant activity of the liver, and the habitual secre- 
tion of bile, render him subject to bilious and inflam- 
matory diseases. It will be necessary for him to diet 
himself in a manner which will refresh the blood and 
humours, and diminish his great irritability, and the 
formation of too much bile ; to do this, he must drink 
copiously of water, give the preference to vegetable, 
rather than animal food, and carefully avoid spices and 
spirituous liquors. 

The phlegmatic temperament is opposite to the 
s 2 



284 EFFECTS OF 

bilious, and is distinguished by not being easily excited, 
slowness in all the movements, and by an inclination 
to inactivity and indolence. To prevent the formation 
of too much phlegm, which is natural to the phlegmatic 
individual, and obstructs the vessels and veins, he 
should also drink plentifully of water ; but, at the same 
time, choose a more stimulating diet, in order to acce- 
lerate the tardy circulation of the blood and humours. 

Water is suitable to all ages. It is above all in 
youth, when the blood begins to boil in the veins, that 
it is particularly necessary to have recourse to cold 
water to calm the natural effervescence of the blood. 
To allow young people the use of wine, or other spiritu- 
ous liquors, is to throw oil into the fire. 

In manhood, which naturally disposes us to febrile 
and inflammatory diseases, and old age, which brings 
induration and obstruction, there is no better way of 
preventing and remedying these evils, than to drink 
cold water. 

Cold water suits all times and seasons. In summer 
it refreshes, in absorbing as much of the free caloric 
as is necessary to establish an equilibrium of tempera- 
ture between it and the body ; drank in great quanti- 
ties, it aids perspiration, and is highly refreshing. In 
winter, it accelerates the tardy circulation of the blood 
and humours, by means of the veins and lungs, and 
decomposes a large portion of the air we breathe, in 
consequence of which, oxygen is absorbed by the blood, 
the hydrogen is exhausted, and the caloric liberated 
to augment the animal heat. In the morning, water 
repairs the loss which the fluids have sustained during 
the night, and assists evacuation. At dinner, it refreshes 
the taste, dilutes the meats, and makes them easy of 



COLD WATER DRINKING. 905 

digestion. After dinner, that is to say, several hours 
after the meal, water facilitates and finishes digestion. 
At night, before going to bed, if taken moderately, 
it causes peaceful sleep, and is a guarantee against 
flatulency. 

Effects of Cold Water used in Ablutions, Baths, §c. 

The skin which covers our body, far from being 
simply a protecting envelope, serving mechanically as 
a defence to the subjacent parts, is one of the most 
important organs, the continual activity of which is an 
essential condition to health. It is too certain that 
this organ has been entirely neglected in our days, and 
has consequently become a source (too little known 
and appreciated) of most diseases. 

As the last ramification of the nerves, which are the 
organs of sensation, terminates on the surface, the skin 
is the seat of one of the most powerful and most fre- 
quently employed senses, that of the touch, or feeling, 
by which we are put in contact with other bodies, and 
above all, with atmospheric air. By this, it may be 
easily conceived, that it is principally in the state and 
constitution of the skin that we shall discover the rea- 
sons for the degree of susceptibility in different diseases, 
the extreme sensibility of all persons to change of 
weather and temperature, such as draughts, (which are 
called rheumatic tendencies,) and also the facility with 
which so many persons are thrown into perspirations, 
and thereby exposed to continual colds. 

Absorption and exhalation are two other important 
functions of the skin. These are effected by means of 
numberless pores which are seen on the surface, where 



2gQ EFFECTS OF COLD WATER 

the hairs appear, and to which abut the orifices of 
numerous vessels that terminate there. 

Absorption introduces incessantly into the animal 
economy, all kinds of fine and imperceptible substances, 
which enter more or less into the composition of the 
body. 

Exhalation, or insensible perspiration, better called 
cutaneous perspiration, consists in the incessant evacu- 
ation of substances, which are no longer proper for the 
nourishment of the body. This insensible uninter- 
rupted excretion, the produce of which is a vaporous 
liquid, that is only estimated by its smell and weight, 
is so great that, according to the most exact observa- 
tions, the skin in a healthy state, without sweating, re- 
lieves the body daily of three pounds of used and cor- 
rupted substances. Now, the free exercise of all the 
excremental secretions being of the greatest import- 
ance to health, it is easy to conceive the evils that 
would result from the suppression and derangement 
of the perspiration of the skin ; in fact, if the pores are 
obstructed, and thus prevent this cutaneous perspiration, 
the matter of which this excretion would have relieved 
the body is thrown upon the organic system, and causes 
all sorts of diseases. 

On the contrary, the more active the skin is, and the 
more freely the insensible perspiration goes on, the less 
we have to fear from rheumatisms, catarrhal affections, 
&c. This will explain to us how it is, that in a very 
dangerous disease, one strong sweating only is sufficient 
to arrest its progress and cure it, by relieving the sys- 
tem from the unwholesome matter which had caused 
the disease. 

Now, it may be asked, if it is possible to find a 



USED IN ABLUTIONS, BATHS, ETC. ggy 

better method of preserving the activity of the skin, 
and aiding the free exercise of perspiration, than pure 
cold water? Our ancestors being well convinced of this 
truth, and having put it into practice, enjoyed more 
vigorous and more durable health than we do. No- 
thing can be more astonishing than the fact, that in our 
days, when the cultivation of the mind, of sciences, and 
of arts are brought to such perfection, we still see 
this important organ, which necessarily requires such 
essential care, totally neglected, and the use of ablu- 
tions and cold baths, the only means of aiding the 
cutaneous function, fallen into such disuse, that the 
famous Hufeland, more than forty years since, com- 
plained that the greater number of men had never felt the 
salutary effects of cold water during the whole course 
of their lives, except at their baptism. It is true, we 
are still accustomed to wash our hands and face every 
day in cold water ; but this is all we have conserved of 
the salutary ablutions and baths of our ancestors ; 
these we observe carefully for the love of cleanliness, 
and to preserve the exterior, but we limit it to that 
alone, and are inconsiderate enough to neglect the 
most important parts of our bodies, as though they 
did not require being washed and purified. Being 
covered with clothes, we are blind enough not to per- 
ceive that if the corrupt and dirty matter from daily 
insensible perspiration, or from sensible sweating, is 
not carefully removed from the skin by washing, it in- 
creases and attaches itself to t»he skin, closes the pores, 
and obstructs the excretion so indispensable to health, 
and cannot fail to produce disease. We carry our im- 
prudence so far as to relax and weaken the skin, in 
dressing too warmly during the day, and sleeping on 



ggg EFFECTS OF COLD WATER, ETC. 

feather-beds at night, or by washing ourselves with 
warm water. 

In regard to animals, we still wash and clean our 
horses, take our dogs tp the river, and see that our 
poultry have plenty of water ; but, as to ourselves and 
our children, an inconceivable blindness deprives us of 
the benefit of this indispensable element. 

We often see our children languish and fall ill, but it 
never occurs to us that very often the only cause of this 
is an obstruction of the pores of the skin, arising from 
our negligence in not having purified it with cold water. 
Are these the fruits of the boasted cultivation of our 
mind, and of our profound knowledge ? 

But the use of fresh water is not restricted to puri- 
fying the skin and assisting perspiration ; its salutary 
effects extend much further. It is true, as has already 
been said, that the first impression of cold water coming 
in contact with our bodies is disagreeable, caused by the 
absorption of the caloric, the contraction of the capillary 
vessels, and the rush of blood and humours towards the 
centre. The primitive action of cold water is to pro- 
duce a sudden sensation of cold, shivering, a trembling 
of the limbs, and oppression of the chest. But we have 
also seen, that the activity of the organs concentrated 
inside, commences immediately a reaction towards the 
circumference, with sufficient force to loosen the con- 
traction, to bring back the heat by degrees, to facilitate 
the circulation of the blood and humours, to assist the 
secretions and excretions, to fortify the muscles and 
nerves, and, in fact, to refresh, reanimate, and vivify, 
in a salutary manner, the whole system. Besides this, 
what other way, we msiy ask, is there of protecting our 
bodies from the dangerous influences from without, — 



WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. £89 

this body which we take so much pains, from our births, 
to render delicate and susceptible to the slightest cur- 
rent of air, and every change of the temperature ? 
What means, it may be inquired, can be more surely, 
or more easily employed to fortify and harden, than 
ablutions and cold-baths? 

The same Dr. Hufeland said, in speaking of cold- 
baths, "that they not only purify, not only vivify the 
skin, but refresh the body, and cheer the mind. That 
they fortify and protect from atmospheric changes, pre- 
serve the suppleness of the solid parts of the body, and 
the flexibility of its articulations, and, in fact, prolong 
vigour and youth, and defer decrepitude and old age." 

It is for these reasons that the oldest doctors give their 
advice with respect to children, (not to do as the Rus- 
sians, and other robust people, who plunge their new 
born infants into cold water,) but to familiarize them 
from the most tender age, with this salutary element, by 
washing the head and feet every day with water, not 
cold, but lukewarm, and diminishing daily, until fresh 
well water may be employed, and subjecting them, in 
winter occasionally, and in summer oftener, to cold-baths. 
These medical men know that there is nothing more 
proper to render children less sensible to colds, and other 
dangerous^influences, — nothing better calculated to gua- 
rantee the straightness of the limbs, to fortify and harden, 
to protect against all sorts of cutaneous and other dis- 
eases, than cold water. 

Wine, Spirituous Liquors, Beer, Tea, Coffee, fyc. 

Wine, as much for its colour, scent, and flavour, as for 
the other more essential properties which distinguish it 



^90 WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 

as a liquor, is unlike the juice of grapes, from which it 
is extracted and fermented, these being sweet, mucila- 
ginous, and pleasing, whilst the wine is sharp, acid, and, 
above all, spirituous. It is this latter quality which 
makes it act in a particular manner upon the animal 
organization, by troubling the brain. It is precisely this 
intoxicating quality which renders it so dangerous as a 
drink, in causing physical as well as moral evil. 

Wine is certainly not absolutely requisite, or Provi- 
dence, which has so abundantly provided all the neces- 
saries of life, would either have given rivulets of wine 
instead of water, or caused it to fall from the clouds. 
But its use, though seldom indulged in, is at the same 
time injurious, dangerous, and fatal, particularly to 
weak, delicate, sensitive, and irritable persons, and 
even in the case of plethoric individuals. The fallacy of 
wine being a digester has been long proved by the 
ancient doctors ; in fact, if digestion only consist in 
dissolving and decomposing the aliments which are taken 
to form the chyle, as the real nourishing juice, and if 
this operation is so much more profitable and salutary 
when done quickly, how can wine aid this function, 
inasmuch as it is known that its essential substance is 
spirits of wine, which has the quality of preventing and 
retarding the dissolution and decomposition of animal 
substances ? This every one can see in a cabinet of 
natural history, or even in every druggist's shop. Dr. 
"Weikard was right in saying, wine certainly prevented 
aliments dissolving, and that it rendered them hard, and 
more difficult of digestion. Besides, the action of spirits 
of wine, which wine more or less contains, irritates 
the sanguine and nervous system, and causes inflamma- 
tory disease. Drank to excess, it causes thirst, feverish 



WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. CK)\ 

heat, congestions, giddiness, and shivering, deadens the 
senses, and weakens and diminishes all the intellectual 
faculties. Even its moderate but continual use, often 
produces, sooner or later, painful consequences ; it 
destroys the appetite, and weakens digestion. The 
membranes of the stomach and intestines thicken and 
harden, the liver and the glands become obstructed ; the 
blood is corrupted, and the excretive and secretive 
organs relax, and become inert and languid. In fact, 
the more or less injurious effects of wine even mode- 
rately used, depends upon the health of persons drink- 
ing it, and the quality of the wine ; it is certain that for 
children it is poison. They ought not even to touch it, 
(particularly sweet or dessert wine,) and then they would 
not acquire a taste for it. Youth should be habituated 
to drinking water only ; then when wine is on the table, 
they will give the preference to the former. If they do 
drink a glass of wine, they ought to be recommended to 
drink a double portion of cold water immediately after. 
In manhood, all persons of a weakly, delicate, or ple- 
thoric habit, ought to drink it with great caution, not 
to make a daily practice of it ; and those stronger, and 
advanced in age, and who are accustomed to wine, may 
continue it without fear, provided it is tempered by 
drinking water. Whoever may commit excess in drink- 
ing too much, ought also to drink a great deal of water 
to diminish the prejudicial consequences. In case of 
habitual drinkers rendered wise by experience, wishing 
to become water drinkers, they must guard against too 
sudden a change, and leave off wine by degrees. 

Home-brewed beer is no other than a sort of vinous 
liquor, composed of hops and fermented barley, con- 
taining more nutritious than spirituous properties. 



2Q2 WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 

It is milder in its qualities than wine ; a moderate use 
of it, when not adulterated, is not unwholesome for 
those who labour, or take a great deal of exercise ; but 
drank copiously and habitually, it is highly prejudicial 
to phlegmatic and full habits of body, as well as to 
those who live high, and lead a sedentary life, because 
it weakens the digestion, causes flatulency, and corrupts 
the humours. Its excess produces all the pernicious 
effects of wine, besides a total relaxation of the stomach 
and the urinary vessels. It is a mistake to believe 
that beer strengthens the body ; it is true it increases 
its size, but it does not produce strength, which does 
not consist in flesh, but in the muscles ; too much fat 
prevents activity. Besides, that is never the kind of 
aliment which nourishes the body and produces strength ; 
it is only that which the system has digested and 
assimilated. The constant use of beer, particularly 
porter, weakens the digestion, and destroys appetite ; 
for it is an undoubted fact that beer drinkers eat much 
less, and digest slower and more imperfectly than those 
who drink water. Suppose, for instance, that a pound 
of bread and a pot of beer are sufficient for a day for 
a person who does not work much. If, instead of beer, 
you give water, then he must, at least, have two pounds 
of bread to satisfy him, because the effect of water is 
to digest better and quicker. If we reflect that the 
same portion of corn required to make one pound of 
bread, is sufficient to produce two pots of beer, it will 
become evident that the one who drank the water with 
his bread, had the essence of a pot of beer more than 
the other, without incurring any risk of weakening the 
stomach, or of corrupting the blood ; his food is, con- 
sequently, more nutritious and more wholesome. Let 



WINE ; SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. gO,g 

us consider, besides this, that most of the beer which 
is drunk is too new, and too little fermented, in which 
case it must impede digestion, and cause flatulency and 
diarrhoeas ; or it is too old, and ready to pass into an 
acid fermentation. Sometimes it is adulterated, and 
the hops are replaced by other bitter herbs, or mixed 
with aromatic or narcotic ingredients, all of which, in 
rendering it more agreeable to the taste, make the 
beverage a poison to the system, and cause, at least, 
headaches, cholics, or obstructions. It appears to me, 
that these considerations ought to be sufficient to inspire 
in us a distate for the best beer that could be offered, 
and induce us to prefer cold spring w T ater for all ordinary 
purposes. 

Brandy, Gin, §c. — All that has been said of wine 
extends also to brandy, gin, and other spirituous liquors; 
the more moderately these are used, the less prejudicial 
they will be to health ; for the diseases produced by 
the habitual use of these spirits are of the most violent, 
obstinate, and hideous descriptions. 

Thanks must be rendered to the noble efforts of the 
philanthropic societies of our days, for originating a bar- 
rier to this formidable evil, whose members impose upon 
themselves the duty of renouncing all spirituous liquors, 
and the task of making proselytes. The exertions of 
these benevolent individuals have already been crowned 
with the most happy success, even amongst our sailors. 
Should these examples continue to promote imitation, 
and should they, in fact, become general and engage 
people to approach nearer to nature, it will be found 
that cold water is the best beverage for the human 
system. Coffee and tea also, drank to excess, irritate 
and weaken the nerves ; and when taken hot, which is 



g94 WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 

generally the custom, their evil influence becomes the 
more malignant and injurious. 

If the female portion of the community knew how in- 
jurious these drinks were, principally because they are 
taken hot, how they spoil the skin, take away its deli- 
cacy, render it rough and yellow, and consequently 
cause them to lose before their time, their freshness of 
complexion, the colour of their cheeks, the coral hue of 
the lips, the whiteness of the teeth, and the brilliancy of 
the eyes, so as to imprint on the physiognomy the traces 
of permature old age ; these reasons would, I am per- 
suaded, be sufficient to occasion them to renounce these 
beverages, and drink only cold water ; a resolution which 
would guarantee them against these losses, and preserve 
as long as possible to them all the charms of their sex. 

To prove that there is nothing in all this, there are 
those who cite as examples, persons whom they see 
every day enjoying all the pleasures of the table, eating 
of highly-seasoned dishes, and drinking beer, wine, 
liquors, coffee, tea, &c. ; indeed, all that is strong and 
spirituous, without experiencing the slightest inconveni- 
ence, or without their health appearing to suffer. To 
this it may be answered, that there are drunkards who 
have never taken a glass of water, but have swallowed 
every day large portions of wine and brandy ; and glut- 
tons, who have habitually filled their stomachs with food 
until they were nearly surfeited ; indeed, persons given 
np to every excess, and who, notwithstanding all this, 
have retained the appearance of health, vigour, and 
strength, and have even lived to an advanced age ; but 
it must be remembered that these examples do not form 
the general rule. They are but exceptions. If we draw 
the line of demarcation, we shall not find the twentieth 



WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 995 

part of mankind who have the happiness of being by 
nature endowed with constitutions capable of resisting 
similar attacks, whilst nineteen out of twenty are weak 
and delicate, and cannot with impunity commit the least 
excess in eating or drinking. 

As an established rule, without searching for excep- 
tions, and without mentioning the abuses and disorders 
which the constitution is capable of supporting, I may 
thus sum up : — " Our faith is simple, and can be reduced 
to nearly the following maxim : whosoever desires to 
preserve health, to be quickly cured of accidental indis- 
position, and to prolong life as long as possible, should 
prefer plain food to that which is seasoned, too fat or 
too salt, should guard against swallowing any thing too 
hot, drink generally cold water, be lightly clad, avoid all 
artificial heat, take much exercise in the open air, and 
should abstain from the use of all drugs." When we 
are acquainted with the precious gift of cold water, we 
shall find that it allays our thirst, excites our appetite, 
assists digestion, diminishes our sufferings, cures our 
diseases, and delivers us from the evil effects of luxury, 
debauch, and medicine, 

After having learned the salutary influence of cold 
water, externally and internally, and also the rarely 
innocent, but frequently pernicious effects of spirituous 
liquors ; it becomes necessary to enter into some details 
relative to the life and general habits which we ought to 
observe, in order to facilitate and aid, as much as possi- 
ble, the action of cold water upon our system. I, there- 
fore, propose to finish this chapter by a short Hygeanic 
discourse, wherein I shall show what reason and experi- 
ence teach us to do daily, in order to preserve our 
health. 



296 WINE, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 

The first thing that we ought to do on rising in the 
morning is to wash all over, not forgetting the head, with 
cold water, commencing by rincing the mouth, and 
cleaning the teeth, then drinking two or three tumblers 
of cold spring water, and then washing the whole person. 
Those who are troubled with any thickness in the throat 
should gargle, and well rub the throat several times a 
day with water. It should be kept in the mouth as 
long as possible, at least until it becomes warm, often 
repeated ; this is an excellent means of dissipating any 
obstruction in the throat, and of refreshing and fortify- 
ing its membranes. If some little cold is felt, this is 
easily dissipated by walking up and down the chamber 
a few times. After coffee or tea for breakfast, water 
ought to be drank to diminish their exciting effects. A 
tumbler of water taken an hour before dinner, sharpens 
the appetite and assists digestion. With respect to 
dinner, without being scrupulous about the choice of 
food, we must avoid all excess ; taking care to combine 
animal and vegetable substances ; meat alone is too 
nourishing, and thickens the humours ; avoid all that is 
fat and indigestible, as well as salt meat and spices, be- 
cause they produce acidity, and render persons liable to 
inflammatory diseases. It has already been said that 
every thing which is taken too hot injures the teeth and 
stomach. Animals, most of which refuse every thing hot, 
might be our example in this respect. 

Priessnitz, no doubt, found this fact confirmed by ex- 
perience, as he advises all his patients not to eat or 
drink any thing hot ; and in cases of diseases of the chest, 
he only allows cold food. At table, cold water is, be- 
yond doubt or contradiction, highly to be recommended. 
We may drink it without even feeling thirsty, or take a 



WINES, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. gt)7 

much as we think requisite after dinner, in a sufficient 
quantity to dilute the chyle. There is no fixed rule for 
this ; every one must study his own constitution, and 
find out that which suits him best. As for myself, I 
drink my portion of cold water during dinner, taking care 
to increase the quantity if the repast be more substantial 
than usual, or richer, that is to say, from three to five 
glasses during dinner. I have found this plan succeed 
admirably, and do not doubt but that it might serve as 
a general rule. It is well to eat slowly, and to masti- 
cate thoroughly. There is a German proverb, which 
says, " food well masticated is half digested." 

Dinner should be a time for conversation and cheer- 
fulness. All mental annoyance, every thing that pro- 
duces anger or sorrow is bad ; it renders the best ali- 
ments poisonous. A proper control of oneself is always 
desirable, but never more so than during meals. If too 
much has been eaten at dinner, two or three glasses of 
spring water will assist digestion. Immediately after 
dinner avoid powerful exercise, either of the body or 
mind : persons only accustomed to laborious occupa- 
tions can, with impunity, return to their work immedi- 
ately after this meal ; but delicate persons, or those 
advanced in age, must take an hour of repose ; whilst 
others who lead a sedentary life, should take a walk 
either in the open air or in the room. 

Before going to bed, a glass of water and the rubbing 
of the body with a damp cloth, will be found highly 
conducive to sleep ; and those who study their health, 
will endeavour to retire to bed by ten o'clock, as two 
hours before midnight are worth all the rest ; and this 
enables people to rise early in the morning. Early 
rising is favourable to all descriptions of occupation. 

T 



£98 WINES, SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS, ETC. 

There is a Latin proverb which calls Aurora the friend 
of the muses. What is more agreeable or more refresh- 
ing than a walk on a fine morning in spring ? Five hours 
of uninterrupted sleep are sufficient for people in health. 
In winter we never ought to have our rooms made too 
warm, in order that we may not be exposed to sudden 
changes on going out of doors. The same observation 
applies to dress, which, though applicable to the season, 
ought to be as light as possible. Those accustomed to 
bathe in cold water every day, will not require flannel 
waistcoats, lamb's wool stockings, or any of those addi- 
tions, which only tend to weaken the skin and render it 
more susceptible. Even the head, however great its 
sensibility may have previously been to rheumatism or 
colds, will, by means of washing with cold water, become 
hardened, and this will render any cap, whilst sleeping, 
unnecessary. Persons subject to head-aches should on 
no account sleep with the head covered. 

Besides a liberal u;e of cold water, the salubrity of 
the air and exercise of the body are two great consider- 
ations for the preservation of health and longevity. 
Experience proves that those who are a great deal in 
the open air, such as sportsmen, gardeners, gamekeep- 
ers, &c, enjoy the most vigorous health and attain to 
the greatest age. With this view, we must take care to 
open our doors and windows, summer and winter, in 
order to air the rooms, and not allow a day to pass with- 
out devoting one hour, morning and evening, to walking 
or riding on horseback. This exercise and cold wash- 
ing or bathing, with water drinking, are the sure means of 
obviating many of the diseases which persons who neglect 
them are liable to ; it renders the human frame less sus- 
ceptible to the changes of weather, &c.j which are the cause 
of many diseases. But for those whose occupations are 



OBSTACLES,. ETC. gC)9 

of a sedentary nature, two hours of walking during the 
day are not sufficient. They must resort to some other 
exercise ; such as in summer, bathing in a river, or 
working in a garden ; or in winter, playing at billiards, 
riding on horseback, or dancing, or gymnastics, or in 
sawing or chopping wood. It is from the facility of 
procuring these exercises there, and of being continually 
in the open air, that the country is preferable to, and 
more healthy than cities. 

Obstacles, etc. 

It is notorious that the most salutary inventions for 
mankind, the most important discoveries and ameliora- 
tions, have always encountered the greatest difficulties, 
and have been so attacked on every side as to retard 
the progress of their propagation. Every age furnishes 
examples of this sad truth. I shall merely mention 
vaccination, invented in 1769 by Dr. Jenner. We know, 
notwithstanding the generally acknowledged salutary 
influence of this invention upon mankind, and confirmed 
as it is by experience, that its operations are still 
limited in our days to a very small portion of the habit- 
able globe, and meets with adversaries even amongst 
ourselves. 

After this, it is not to be wondered at, that the use of 
cold water as a beverage, and in the cure of disease, 
should experience the same fate here as everywhere 
else. This arises principally from prejudices, which 
present the most powerful obstacles to all change whe- 
ther of habit or custom, and to all novelties, however 
little they may be opposed to our convenience, our 
imaginary interests or prepossessions. A moment's re- 
flection will present to us four leading objections to the 

use of cold water. 

t2 



3(]0 OBSTACLES, ETC. 

First, Ignorance of its consequences. — Experience 
proves that the virtues of that which we have con- 
stantly before our eyes, and which we use every day, 
are unknown to us, or at least, are less known, and do 
not so much excite our curiosity to learn them as those 
things which are more abstruse and less useful. 

Although in ancient and modern writings, the most 
learned and experienced doctors have praised and recom- 
mended cold water, as an excellent remedy in certain 
mortal diseases, there are, nevertheless, but few doctors 
who know its effects, who have ever given it a thought, 
or who have ever had occasion, or the wish, to learn. 
There are others, less good natured, and more learned, 
who are not ignorant of the healing qualities of cold 
water in certain diseases, but who refuse to make them 
known, from motives which I shall pass over in silence. 
However, sometimes medical men do hazard an experi- 
ment ; and sometimes these experiments do not succeed. 
Why is this ? Is it that the proper mode of applying 
the water cure is not known ? — that the confidence 
necessary to obtain a happy result is wanted ? — or, that 
the doctors alluded to have not employed cold water 
only, but preceded or followed it up with drugs ? — or 
have used cold water, together with warm medicines ? 
It may be, that they prescribe the use of cold water only 
internally, or only externally ; and this last, perhaps at 
the greatest degree of cold, in the form of ice, the action 
of which, for many diseases, is too strong and too 
exhausting.* 

* This injudicious administering of cold water is frequent 
enough, particularly in cases of cholera, where, however, cold water 
will perform miracles: and is, beyond all contradiction, the best 
remedy yet discovered, provided that it be employed with judgment. 



IGNORANCE. gQ| 

Now, if this ignorance, or want of knowledge, in the 
use of cold water, exists among men of science, and 
persons whose business in life has been to find out the 
art of curing disease, it is not astonishing that others 
should know but little of its uses. It is not in the na- 
ture of things, that people in the ordinary walks of life 
should find out that for themselves, which properly be- 
longs to the medicinal art ; as such research must be 
unsuitable to those persons who in most cases want the 
capacity and discernment necessary to form an impartial 
judgment on the subject. 

This is the reason why, at the present day, the heal- 
ing virtues of water are so completely neglected, though 
proved and attested by the innumerable cures which 
have been effected. Its use, thanks to the efforts of 
professor Oertel, one of the most zealous of its parti- 
zans, has been better made known, and more practised 
amongst all classes in Germany ; still the number of its 
friends is small in comparison to those who have no idea 
of its value. It is not uncommon to see ignorance 
engender scepticism, but to doubt, or rather not to 
believe, the curative virtues of cold water, and the ex- 
traordinary cures which are recounted by the most 
celebrated doctors, from Hippocrates to our own times, 
who, in their writings, have demonstrated the in- 
contestable truths, would make us conclude, that the 
published reports on this subject, by the large hospitals 
of England and France, must be altogether false ; that, 
in fact, the daily practice and experience of Priessnitz, 
and of so many others, were but illusions. It is much 
to be desired, that persons who will not believe this 
evidence, would resolve to try the experiment them- 
selves, by drinking, for one week only, plentifully of 



gQg OBSTACLES, ETC. 

cold water, and making their ablutions with it every 
morning. Nothing is more certain than that their 
doubts would soon terminate, and that they would, in a 
short time, become convinced that all the reports of 
danger attending the drinking of water, after having 
eaten fruit, or anything fat, that it produces colds, 
weakens the stomach, or that it is dangerous to wash 
the body, or take a cold-bath in a state of perspiration, 
(i. e. passive, not that produced by exertion,) are 
false, and that such reports have not the slightest 
foundation. 

Secondly, Habitude. — Nothing tyrannizes over us 
more than the power of habit. Nothing exercises a 
more pernicious influence over our ideas, opinions, and 
actions, than received customs. This may be exemplified 
by a few examples. Why do many doctors forbid fresh 
air in the chamber of the invalid, condemning the poor 
bedridden creature to inhale no other air than that which 
is corrupted by his own breath and perspiration ? Why 
does he scarcely allow him warm water to quench his 
thirst? And why does he obstinately, and in a most 
cruel manner, refuse cold water when he so ardently 
desires it, and when it is in effect the only refreshment 
that may, with any security, be offered him, and which 
nature so imperiously demands ? It is the effect of 
habit, and an ill-judged fear, produced by habit, which 
occasions this extraordinary conduct on the part of 
medical men. 

How is it that we see others, particularly the old 
practitioners, obstinately persevere in following a system 
once adopted, and condemning, beforehand, any innova- 
tion that may be attempted to be introduced ? Because 
old habits inspire a predilection for the one, and aver- 



HABITUDE. gQ3 

sion for tlie other system ; because they are not accus- 
tomed to examine themselves, and to choose from the 
confused mass of medical doctrines and assertions those 
which experience proves to be true, and to have a solid 
foundation. The same causes produce the same effects 
on other people ; they are ail subjected to the influence 
of habit; they drink little water; they rarely wash the 
body from head to foot, and seldom or never take cold- 
baths. They are accustomed, on getting up in the 
morning, to wash their face and hands, without think- 
ing of the rest of the body, solely from habit, contracted 
in youth ; and it is from habit, then, that we neither 
esteem nor appreciate that which costs us nothing, and 
is to be obtained without toil or sacrifice, of some kind 
or other. This very fact is sufficient to satisfy people's 
minds that it is impossible that so simple, and so com- 
mon an element as water should possess the marvellous 
virtue of cleansing the body from all that is pernicious 
to health, and re-establish order and regularity in all 
the vital functions. 

It is certain, then, that we are the slaves of habit, and 
that custom prevails over reason ; that we have not the 
courage to renounce all which, in our mode of life, is 
hurtful and dangerous to us, such as our habit of drink- 
ing spirituous liquors, which do not suit our constitu- 
tions, &c. Cold water always remains an object of 
doubt and indifference, or even aversion. Should we 
be tormented by some chronic or painful disease, which 
neither medical science, nor the pharmaceutic art, can 
deliver us from, notwithstanding the number of their 
resources, ingenious compositions, and foreign remedies, 
all of which they are so profuse in bestowing on us, we 
still prefer searching for other means of producing 



3Q4 OBSTACLES, ETC. 

health, and a deliverance from all our ills, in mineral 
waters, and in the celebrated hot-baths of foreign coun- 
tries, rather than have recourse to cold water from our 
own springs, which alone, probably, would be the means 
of e fleeting a cure. 

Thirdly, Our comforts and luxuries are constant hin- 
derances to the use of cold water. — We must not be sur- 
prised to hear medical men declaim against the use of cold 
water, particularly in cases of illness ; because this mode 
of relief presents difficulties and inconveniences to doc- 
tors, for to introduce it into practice, they ought to recom- 
mence their studies, which would be troublesome to all 
those who dislike application and fatigue. But it is still 
more singular and ridiculous to hear the declamatior.s of 
other people, when they complain that it is disagreeable 
and inconvenient to drink so much water, because it is 
diarrhcetic ; that cold ablutions and baths are troublesome 
and painful, that they cause people to feel cold and shiver- 
ing. Then how can we answer these complaints ? Will 
it be more agreeable to the taste to take purgatives, 
pills, apozems, and all the trash composing the mixtures 
of pharmacy, the very taste and smell of which makes 
the heart sick, without saying any thing of their prob- 
lematical and uncertain effects, rather than use cold 
water only, which is in itself most agreeable ? 

Bleeding, leeches, cupping, issues, blisters, plaisters, 
and different ointments — will these be less painful and 
grievous than the constant use of cold water? But, 
here again, we have the force of habit; we are less sen- 
sitive to the disagreeable and painful sensations which 
the allopathic treatment produces upon our senses, be- 
cause we are habituated to it, because we suffer and see 
others suffer every day from it, and have no idea of any 



COMFORTS AND LUXURIES.— INTERESTS. 3Q5 

other mode of cure. But, say the individuals alluded 
to, we do accustom ourselves to cold, and in winter we 
expose ourselves without hesitation to the cold air, but 
washing the body with cold water, or taking a cold bath, 
is quite another thing. It is a novelty, a great bore ; 
the idea alone is sufficient to make one shiver. Such 
is the indiscreet language made use of to decry one of 
the most salutary and beneficial discoveries ever made, 
and to frustrate one of the greatest benefits that Provi- 
dence ever conferred on man. Others, excited by curi- 
osity, or prompted by their sufferings, hazard some 
slight trial, but cold water cannot work miracles. If 
their first essay is not immediately crowned with com- 
plete success, they give it up, not having courage to 
persevere. They then declaim against water, and 
accuse their informants of falsehood. 

Fourthly, Interest. — Interest, that demon who holds 
dominion over, and governs the world, exercises a 
power not less fatal or powerful over cold water ; by 
preventing by every possible means its healing powers 
from becoming generally known. This demon is the 
more execrable, because his votaries are perfectly well 
acquainted with the value of cold water, but they will 
not allow humanity to enjoy the advantages that it pos- 
sesses, for fear that their sordid interests might suffer. 

It is natural to suppose that all persons interested in 
the sale of spirituous liquors and drugs, will not regard 
with indifference the introduction and propagation of 
any thing so simple, the use of which, when properly 
known, would be general in sickness, as well as health, 
inasmuch as threatening to ruin their livelihood, to 
cause their commerce and industry to languish, and to 
destroy those means of acquisition which have cost them 



3C6 



OBSTACLES, ETC. 



so dear, and the exercise of which had to the present 
time, procured them and their families an honest and 
easy subsistence. 

It is not surprising that this portion of the commu- 
nity should complain bitterly, and cry out against a 
custom so terrible for them. But what shall we say of 
those men, who, by condition and vocation, are called 
to follow the steps of the ancient, wise, and venerable 
philosophers of antiquity ? of those men, that were 
brought up and instructed at a great expense, and 
invested with the sacred dignity of being the preservers 
and restorers of the health of their brothers ; of these 
men, who in their capacity of priests of Hygea, and 
sons of Esculapius, enjoy great consideration, and un- 
limited confidence with the public, and whose medical 
decisions are searched for, and followed as oracles ; 
what shall we say to these men, (and unfortunately it 
is not difficult to find them,) who in spite of truth and 
their own conviction, and the science which they pro- 
fess, declaim against cold water, decry its healing qual- 
ities, and, in fact, do not scruple to traduce the most 
sacred interests of humanity, to sacrifice their physical 
and moral well-being to a vile cupidity, a cowardly 
convenience, or a foolish vanity ? 

But, on the contrary, w r e should render honour and 
due gratitude to those noble and elevated beings among 
medical men, who are not accessible to any motives 
but those dictated by honour, truth, and the interest of 
humanity and science ; who prefer to enjoy a moderate 
fortune, to enriching themselves at the expense of their 
consciences, and who, fearlessly render justice to the 
healing virtues of cold water, either by recommending 



ADVANTAGES OF WATER. gQ^ 

it in the practice of their profession, or in giving ad- 
vice to the public in the capacity of publishers or re- 
porters. 

Advantages of Water in the cure of Disease. 

It may easily be conceived, that the same properties 
which cause cold water to be excellent as a preserva- 
tive, and in diet, ought also to be curative, and that its 
action upon the animal economy, ought not to be less 
advantageous in time of sickness than in health. The 
knowledge of the healing properties of water was not 
for the first time discovered in our days, it is almost as 
ancient as the world. But it is the mode of using it, 
the principles of its just application, based upon the 
theory of medical science, and adapted to practice ; 
which until now has remained defective, or at least has 
been neglected and abandoned for ages. Even at the 
present day, the knowledge, notwithstanding the extra- 
ordinary, nay, wonderful success of Priessnitz, is far 
from the degree of perfection which it is capable of 
attaining, which will ere long result from the diligent 
researches of talented individuals divested of prejudices, 
One thing is certain, as proved by incontrovertible evi- 
dence, and that is, that cold water, without being a 
panacea, or universal remedy — which no where exists, 
nor ever will exist — produces the most salutary effects 
in the treatment of disease, not of any one disease in 
particular, but in the most part of diseases known or 
curable ; and being properly applied, and in due sea- 
son, it will cure better, more easily, quickly, and effec- 
tually, than any medical treatment that can be resorted 
to. To be convinced of this fact, we have only to 



308 ADVANTAGES OF WATER 

compare the action of water to that of drugs. The 
effects of all medical remedies are to depress, to calm, to 
irritate, to contract, to dissolve, and to purge. Can 
cold water alone produce all these effects? Yes, and 
not only these, but if we believe the testimony of the 
most celebrated doctors, it produces many, in a degree 
much more efficacious than can be attained by any other 
means, principally by its refreshing and sedative qua- 
lities. 

These last qualities render it of such value in surgery, 
particularly at present, when the most skilful surgeons, 
in the greater number of accidents, employ only water. 
Cold water will stop hemorrhages, and prevent inflam- 
mation, and is alone used by Priessnitz in dressing 
wounds. Besides this, water has other advantages still 
more essential, and which give it such a great advantage 
over all other medicines, 1st, It is to be found every 
where in the world, and it can be procured in an instant 
in urgent cases, where life and death depend upon prompt 
assistance. 2ndly, Almost all the remedies used in 
medicine are not without reason suspected to have a 
topical effect upon the constitution, or to act too 
forcibly, or too violently, or to have injurious effects 
in troubling other organic functions, and in causing 
the invalid all sorts of pains, during and after the 
illness ; and to make the recovery long and disa- 
greeable, and the regaining of strength but slow. 
Cold water does not deserve any of these reproaches, 
as its cure is complete, sure, and effected without caus- 
ing any of these lamentable consequences. To render 
this truth more palpable, I shall not deny myself the 
pleasure of placing before my readers the description 
given by Dr. Granichstadten, in his German work, 



IN THE CURE OF DISEASE. gQQ 

called " Hydriasiologie," Vienna, 1837, contrasting the 
cases of two invalids, one of which is supposed to be 
treated according to the ancient art of medicine, the 
other by cold water. He says : — " I imagine myself, 
then, to be presented to two invalids attacked by vene- 
real disease in a high degree, who have already made 
use of mercurial remedies. I shall treat one after the 
allopathic or present system, the other after the new 
method of cold water ; and we will now observe atten- 
tively the effects of the two different modes of cure. 

" The follower of Hydropathy, subjected to all the 
processes and applications of cold water, which of 
necessity will expose him to the salutary influence of 
the air, will find his appetite, which he may indulge 
as much as he likes, and his gaiety, increase daily, and 
his pains and aches diminish ; and when he becomes 
acquainted with the nature of the cure, he will feel 
a confident assurance of being speedily established in 
health. 

" The amateur of mercury, on the contrary, is confined 
to his room, and put under severe diet, loses his appe- 
tite entirely, feels disgust for all kinds of meat, is also 
uncomfortable and melancholy, and finds himself getting 
worse and worse. The patient following the water 
cure enjoys a sweet and profound sleep, requiring to 
be awakened every morning to commence the operation 
of perspiring ; the other passes almost every night 
without sleep, and in torment; the one has the plea- 
sures of society and walking, whilst the other remains 
in his room. Then follow pills, electuaries, and oint- 
ments, which are ordered him ; his teeth are loosened, 
and his mouth exhales a fetid odour, insupportable to 



310 



ADVANTAGES OF WATER 



himself and all those who approach him : the one 
quenches his thirst with delicious water fresh from the 
spring or well, whilst tSie other is presented with slops, 
or at the best, with warm water. 

" The body of the second is impregnated with mercury, 
which perpetually forms new and morbid matter, whilst 
the body of the first is not only entirely divested of the 
venom of the existing disease, but also of any mercury 
he may have previously taken, though it may have been 
ten years, or more, since he swallowed it, as this passes 
off by sweating, or by urine, &c. But the mercury 
itself is seen to discolour the linen that comes in contact 
with the body. 

" In fact, the allopathic patient presents an object of 
compassion to all who may see him, whilst the other is 
gay, cheerful, and progressing daily to convalescence. 
The skin of the water drinker, perhaps, will not be 
entirely free; it will in all probability carry the marks 
of the ulcers which were necessary to carry off the 
venom from the body ; but in these he ought to rejoice 
as proofs of his having experienced a radical cure ; but 
these marks are so slight, that, on seeing them, no one 
would know that he had only just recovered from ill- 
ness. On the other hand, look at the poor medicine 
patient : how exhausted and melancholy he is, how 
afraid of every breath of air, how fatigued by the slight- 
est movement! The lightest food causes indigestion, 
and the very idea of the means adopted for his cure 
makes him tremble with horror. After all this, I will 
guarantee to the first perfect and constant health, pro- 
vided he is prudent and remains faithful to the water ; 
whilst I should be sorry to do the same by the other, 



IN THE CURE OF DISEASE. g|J 

notwithstanding he may be most prudent in his con- 
duct, and act up to the best rules that maybe prescribed 
for him." 

However, as the effects of fresh water are medicinal 
according to the various modes of application necessary 
in each disease, we must now examine them a little more 
attentively. 

With respect to that which concerns the interior use 
of cold water, it has already been remarked that it is a 
prejudice, an error, to think that the drinking of cold 
water, with very few exceptions, can be prejudicial to 
invalids. Whenever he has an appetite and experiences 
thirst to require water, it is the voice of instinct, it 
is cruel to refuse the satisfying of this desire. In fact, 
cold water is not only the most refreshing and most de- 
licious beverage for the invalid, in quenching his burn- 
ing thirst, but once having entered into the system it 
seldom fails in its remedial powers, by manifesting its 
purifying, dilating, dissolving, and evacuative virtues, as 
well as the other salutary effects. There are diseases 
which are cured simply by drinking, and it is yet a pro- 
blem to ascertain whether many cures attributed to 
medical draughts were not effected entirely from the 
circumstance of their being liquids, and consequently by 
the water which formed the principal element in the 
composition. 

In support of this truth, we refer our readers to the 
enlightened doctor, Ratier, who, in his " Dictionary of 
Medicine and Surgery," says, " considered as a means 
therapeutic, water is of an indisputable efficacy, to it 
alone we often are indebted for certain cures, which 
resist all other means. It diminishes the heat of fevers, 
it gives activity to the secretions and exhalations, and 



g]<2 ADVANTAGES OF WATER, ETC. 

modifies their products. It would be a great advantage 
to the public, if the faculty gave publicity to these doc- 
trines ; which, if they know anything, they know to be 
true, instead of administering with such an air of import- 
ance, those slops from which they do not themselves ex- 
pect any beneficial results ; nor should they refuse, as 
they constantly do, a glass of cold fresh water, to relieve 
the devouring thirst of the poor invalid. It may be said, 
without exaggeration, that there are few diseases, which 
water, judiciously applied, will not gently relieve, and 
tend most essentially to cure." 

The contrast we have alluded to cannot well fail to 
strike my reader with astonishment ; I now leave him to 
decide which treatment is preferable, that of drugs and 
allopathy ; of the cold water cure or Hydropathy. 






CHAPTEE XX. 

The following is a List of HydropatJiic Establishments 
up to the end of the year 1840. 

1. Graefenberg is the oldest of all the Hydropathic 
establishments. Priessnitz presides over it. 

2. Freiwaldau is the next, conducted by Mr. Weiss, 
who began about the time Mr. Priessnitz did or soon 
after, and who has conducted an establishment ever since. 

3. Karlsbrunn, situated between Freiwaldau, Jagern- 
dorf, and Freidenthal, by Dr. Malik. 

4. Weidenau, upon the Slopes of the Sudates, by Dr. 
Frohlich. These four establishments are in Austrian 
Silesia. 

5. In the Archduchy of Austria are Kaltenleutgeben, 
five miles from Vienna, conducted by Mr. Emmel, 
surgeon. 

6. Laale, two miles and a half from Kaltenleutgeben, 
by Dr. Granichstadten, author of Hydriasiologia. 

Bohemia. 

7. Elisenbad, near Chrudim, by Dr. WeidenhorTer. 

8. Dobrawitz, near Jungbunzlau, by Dr. Schmidt. 

9. Leitmeritz, directed by Mr. Lauda, a surgeon. 

10. Kuchelbad, near Prague, by Dr. Kanzler. 

Moravia. 

11. Czernahora, in the neighbourhood of Olmiitz. 

12. Sulowitz, near Briinn. 

u 



314 LIST 0F HYDROPATHIC ESTABLISHMENTS. 

13. Hoznau, near Prerau. 

14. Budischan, near Iglau. 

15. Gross Ullersdorf, near Olmiitz; Dr. Gross. 

Hungary and Transylvania, 

16. Peter wardein. 

17. Oedenburg. 

18. Hermanstadt ; the directors of these three estab- 
lishments are not known at present. 

19. Muhlan,near Inspruck, in the Tyrol; by Dr. Fritz. 

Prussia. 

20. Oberrigk, near Trebnitz ; three miles from Bres- 
lau ; by Dr. Lehman. 

21. Alt Scheitnig ; one mile from Breslau ; by Dr. 
Burkner. 

22. Berlin ; directed by Major Plehwe, partner of 
Dr. Beck. 

23. Marienbad. 

24. Bendler Strosse, No. 8, Berlin ; by Dr. Moser ; 
there is also a third establishment in Berlin. 

25. Koethen ; twenty-four miles from Berlin, recently 
formed by Mr. Falkenstein, author of a work entitled 
" The wonderful cures of Graefenberg." 

26. Gorhrishowo, near Bromberg, in the Grand Duchy 
of Posen ; by Dr. Barschewitz. 

21. Kunzendorf, near Neurode, in the province of 
Glatz ; directed by Mr. Niederfuhr. 

28. Marienberg, near Boppart, in the neighbourhood 
of Coblentz, by Dr. Schmitz, editor of the journal on 
Hydropathy. 

Bavaria. 

29. Alexandersbad, near Wunsiedel, by Dr. Fiken- 
tscher. 



LIST OF HYDROPATHIC ESTABLISHMENTS. g\£ 

30. Streitberg, between Erlangen and Baireutli. 

31. Schafllarn, some short distance from Munich, by 
Dr. Horner. 

32. Munich, Nymphenburg Strasse, No. 86. 

33. On the lake of Starnberg, directed by Dr. 
Schnitzlein, author of a work on Hydropathy. 

34. Schallersdorf, a mile and a half from Erlangen, 
by Professor Dr. Fleischmann. 

35. Dr. Oertel, Anspach. 

Wurtemberg. 

36. A mile and a half from Ulm ; Dr. Bentsch. 

Saxony. 

37. In Swiss Saxony, a mile and a half from Pirna, 
in the valley of Bila ; Dr. Muller. 

38. Kreischa, ten miles and a half from Dresden ; Dr. 
Stecher. 

39. Muldenthal, a mile and a half from Frieberg ; 
Director, Mr. Munde, author of a work on Hydropathy. 

Saxe Gotha. 

40. Elgersburg, at the government expense ; by Dr. 
Piutti. 

Saxe Weimar. 

41. Ilmenau, at the government expense; by Dr. 
Sitzler. 

Brunswick. 

42. Kaulnitz ; the doctor is not yet named. 

Poland. 

43. Warsaw ; Dr. Sauvan. 



316 LIST OF HYDROPATHIC ESTABLISHMENTS. 

Russia. 

44. St. Petersburg ; Dr. Harnish. 

Belgium. 

45. Ghent, by a medical man. There is also an 
establishment in the immediate neighbourhood of Brus- 
sels. Names of both these practitioners unknown to the 
author. 

France. 

46. Dr. Bigel, Strasburg; and another establish- 
ment, recently formed, at Passy, near Paris. 

This being the list for 1840, it is presumed the num- 
ber of establishments have much increased, as during 
that year and the last, a great number of professional 
men visited Graefenberg, for the purpose of acquiring 
a knowledge of Hydropathy. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



ROUTES TO GRAEFENBERG. 



First Route. 

The point to which the traveller from England ought 
first to direct his attention, is Dresden ; to reach this he 
may proceed as follows : — 

London to Ostend by steam-boat, fourteen hours ; 
Ostend to Liege by rail-road, seven hours ; Liege to 
Aix-la-Chapelle by diligence, one day (posting requires 
the same time ;) Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne by railway, 
four hours ; Cologne to Frankfort by steam-boat, via 
the Rhine, two days ; Frankfort to Leipsic by diligence, 
thirty-six hours ; Leipsic to Dresden by railway, seven 
hours. Thence, Dresden to Breslau by diligence, thirty- 
one hours; from Breslau to Neisse by diligence, nine 
hours : at Neisse a small carriage, with either one or 
two horses, may be engaged for Graefenberg ; to reach 
which about four hours will be required. 

Second Route. 

London to Hamburg, fifty to sixty hours ; Hamburg 
to Magdeburg by steam-boat, two days ; Magdeburg to 
Dresden, via Leipsic, by railway, eight hours. Or from 
Hamburg, the traveller may take the diligence to Berlin, 
which makes the journey in thirty-six hours ; and from 
thence to Dresden by railway, in twelve hours. 



318 ROUTE TO GRAEFENBERG. 

The outlay in actual travelling expenses, by either 
of these routes, without including provisions, will not 
exceed £10. 

Third Route. 

Persons proceeding to Graefenberg from the East, 
via the Danube, or from Italy, should make a point of 
reaching Vienna, and from thence continue their journey 
by railway to Olmutz, which occupies half a day ; sleep 
there, and hire a carriage for Graefenberg : this forms 
the second day's journey. If they have occasion to stay, 
en route, they will find tolerable accommodation at 
Hansdorf, three hours' distance from their place of 
destination. 

It is expected that the railroad the whole distance 
from Ostend to the Rhine, will be completed this year ; 
and it is in contemplation to make a railroad from Frank- 
fort to Leipsic, and another from Dresden to Breslau : 
so that the journey to Graefenberg will be accomplished 
with very little fatigue, and in a short period of time. 



W. Tyler, Printer, 5, Bolt Court, London. 



i 



